Smokescreen
by SofiaFrancesca
Summary: "Light flooded the room and James took in the state of his best friend, who was now slumped against the wall beneath the window. Rivulets of rain were running down his face, his hair was plastered to his forehead and the muggle jeans that he had bought with the primary aim of pissing his parents off were dark with water." Follows the Marauders from their 6th year.
1. Prologue: The Graveyard Shift

A/N Thank you for deciding to give this story a read. The prologue starts from a outsider perspective but it will largely follow the point of view of canonical characters from the Marauder's era, starting from their sixth year. I have already drafted a large portion of this story and will be posting weekly updates, so please hit the follow button if you like it!

* * *

 _Prologue_

 _The Graveyard Shift_

* * *

For the second time in as many weeks, Sampson had pulled the graveyard shift. In truth, it had been an accident this time, the unfortunate result of being too nice, too eager to please and too much of a Hufflepuff. It had been around lunchtime when his supervisor had asked whether anyone would be willing to swap shifts with him and like the naïve schoolboy he still was on the inside, Sampson had obediently raised his hand and sacrificed his Friday night.

He had soon come to regret the decision. The night shift was always long and tedious, consisting of little more than the occasional call out and recording any messages the owls delivered in a big red book. Tonight was no different- save that Sampson was alone in the office. The two colleagues unlucky enough to be working alongside him tonight had been called out to a disturbance in Nottingham near half an hour ago now, and as the newest, yet unqualified member of the squad, Sampson had been left behind to hold down the fort. Shifting wearily in his chair, Sampson wondered idly what the rest of the squad were up to. A good few were family men and would likely be in bed with their wives or rocking babies back to sleep, but there had been talk among the rest earlier of after work drinks at the Leaky Cauldron. Sighing, Sampson glanced at the clock, which now read half past two. There was only half an hour or so until closing time but he would have given anything to be with the rest of his colleagues having a few well deserved pints. After all, those occasions were getting rarer and rarer nowadays- the direct result of a body that had been found in Diagon Alley several months ago.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sudden arrival of a tawny owl on his desk. Cracking his knuckles out of habit, Sampson reached down to untie the message that it carried. Breaking the blue wax seal which told him the note had come from within Law Enforcement, he unrolled the parchment carefully and scanned its contents. He was pleased to note that it didn't contain anything out of the ordinary- merely a couple of reports from Intelligence and Information. The first made him smile. Apparently bewitched hot dogs were being sold to unsuspecting muggles in Birmingham. Stifling a yawn, he picked up a quill to scribble a note for Weasley in Misuse of Muggle Artefacts.

The second message gave him slightly more cause for concern. This one was a missing person report and Sampson scratched his head as he tried to remember the protocol he was supposed to follow. It wasn't often that they saw this sort of thing in the Magical Law Enforcement Squad. Of course, people were going missing left, right and centre nowadays but as they usually involved Death Eater activity, all of those were directed straight to the Auror Office- not to the nineteen year old trainee in the department next door.

Sampson read the report carefully. According to the little information that had been passed to him, a sixteen-year-old boy had disappeared from his family home late last night. It was only halfway through that there were any names and Sampson raised his eyebrow to see that it was somebody he knew- not well by any means- but someone whose name was at least familiar. The boy in question was several years below him at Hogwarts and had been a renowned trouble maker. Sampson recalled meeting him several times in passing when he'd been a prefect in sixth year. In fact, if he remembered correctly, he'd been the boy that he'd caught filching several bottles of dessert wine from Slughorn's private pantry.

Quite honestly, Sampson couldn't find it in him to be too worried. A boy like that was always getting into trouble and Sampson rather suspected that he'd merely moved on from dessert wine to girls and was spending a few nights at a girlfriends just to wind up his parents. All the same though, he traced the surname written on the parchment with a little relief. With a surname like that, it was unlikely to be anything unsavoury. In this day and age it was the muggle-borns that one had to watch out for.

Sampson was just filling out the details in the red book when he heard the door open behind him. Turning in his chair, he was pleased to see that his colleagues had evidently made it back from Nottingham in one piece. Ogden, one of the more senior members of the squad, was leading the way, looking just as tired as Sampson felt. He was followed by Barney Templeton, a boy who had joined the squad in the intake before Sampson. The both of them seemed a little on edge- something which surprised Sampson a little. Barney had been in Hufflepuff too and Sampson knew him well. He was not the sort to let anything get to him and usually could be relied on to produce some kind of crude comment even in the most inappropriate situations.

"Sampson," Ogden greeted with a tired nod. He was getting too old for this and it showed.

"Yes sir?"

"I need you to alert the aurors about that disturbance in Nottingham. It was initially reported as a break in but there was definite evidence of Death Eater activity. I've written it all out for you to take over to Scrimgeour. He's on duty tonight."

Sampson nodded and stood dutifully. His heart had fallen at the mention of Rufus Scrimgeour. The man was the deputy head of the Auror Office and he had a way of putting Sampson on edge. He knew better than to argue though. The Auror Office was the one department in the Ministry which could not be contacted with owls. The information they dealt with was far too sensitive.

Bob Ogden stopped him in the doorway. "Any other incidents whilst we have been gone?" he asked.

Sampson nodded again. "Yes sir, although both minor. Something about bewitched food being sold in the Midlands which I've forwarded to Weasley, and a missing person rep-"

"What, another one?" Barney interrupted, concern etched upon his face.

"Yes but I don't think it's anything to worry about. Just a teenage boy who's gone for a wander and hasn't come back yet."

"Muggleborn?" Ogden asked immediately. His question didn't need to be explained.

"No sir," Sampson answered. "Pureblood."

"Good," Ogden smiled, the tension going out of his shoulders as he visibly relaxed. "Well keep an eye on it anyway." He seemed about to let Sampson go and then he spoke again. "Just out of interest, which family is it? Might be worth sending someone round if it's someone who, well, _donates_ regularly to the Ministry. Always important to keep these families sweet."

Sampson sighed inwardly. As a half-blood, the incestuous nepotism of the Ministry had been rather alien to him at first. It was something that he took for granted now though. Sampson knew that he'd never been exceptionally bright and yet it didn't take a smarter man than him to see that the Ministry was corrupt to its very core. Money- usually pureblood money- kept the Ministry turning. There was very little that couldn't be achieved by a well-placed envelope in the proper pocket.

It was only when he looked up to see Ogden's patient face that Sampson realised he still hadn't answered the question. "Black, sir," he said quickly. "A man called Orion sent an owl."

Ogden raised an eyebrow at this. "Definitely worth sending someone round then," he muttered. "He and his wife donate to all sorts of things- this department included. Crouch will have my hide if I piss them off."

Sampson stifled a yawn. Appeasing rich pureblood men was not what he'd signed up for. "Of course sir. I'll go myself. After I've delivered the report to Scrimgeour and I've got a few hours of sleep. Can't be waking such generous donors up in the middle of the night after all- even if their son is missing."

* * *

It was just past 9 o'clock when Sampson arrived at the address they had on file for Orion and Walburga Black. If he was honest with himself he was more than a bit nervous about this home visit. The Black family had a reputation for being one of the oldest, and richest, pureblood families in the wizarding world and one of the sacred twenty eight; a list of families deemed to be of the purest wizarding lineage. The list had been compiled in the 1930s, and since then many families had become extinct in the male line, or 'tainted' their lineage by intermarrying with half-bloods, muggle-borns, or god forbid even muggles themselves. There were some families on the list, such as the Weasleys and the Macmillans who Sampson knew and liked, but the majority of them would not associate with a half blood like him. A significant number of the families had a reputation for being sorted in Slytherin house, and he'd moved in very different circles at Hogwarts. Working in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, he was privy to some of the rumours that circulated the upper echelons of pureblood wizarding families, and knew that some, such as the Carrows and the Lestranges were known Death Eaters, and a much larger number were suspected of Death Eater involvement or of harbouring he-who-must-not-be-named sympathies. Indeed, there were many in the wizarding world, even at the Ministry, who thought that he-who-must-not-be-named had the right idea about things.

Turning his attention back to the handsome town house in front of him he thought back to what he knew of the Black family. He was sure the boy who was missing had been in Gryffindor, but even he as a humble Hufflepuff had remembered the scandal. The sorting hat had sat on the boy's head for what had felt like an eternity before eventually declaring him for Gryffindor. Apparently being the first in the Black family not to be sorted into Slytherin house was worth talking about, for a hushed whisper had rippled across the hall as he had taken his seat at the Gryffindor table. For a fleeting moment even Professor McGonnagal had looked stunned, and that was a rare occurrence indeed.

He momentarily held his breath as he knocked on the rather grand looking door of number 12. He'd been warned by Scrimgeour that this residence had every possible magical defence on it, and it showed. Scrimgeour had also snidely remarked that he better keep an eye out for dark objects, but he had ignored him. Ogden had assured him that Orion and Walburga Black were well respected in the wizarding community, and he hardly thought scouring their house for dubious magical items would be conducive to the task at hand. Scrimgeour would just be paranoid and overly suspicious as usual, as was common with many of the aurors especially ones that managed to live past the ripe old age of thirty.

Many minutes passed before the door finally opened to reveal a rather ugly looking house elf eyeing him suspiciously with small beady eyes.

"What do you want?" the House elf croaked.

"I'm here from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Squad regarding a report of a missing person at approximately one twenty three am this morn-"

"About time too, Mistress is most distressed about the whole unfortunate situation." The house elf interrupted, opening the door wider as if to admit Sampson entry. "Not that he deserves it mind you" he continued softly under his breath "The young master has broken poor Mistress's heart, a disgrace to the noble house of Black."

Sampson stepped into the hall, and was immediately stuck by how grand the house was. The entrance hall was wide and spacious, and chandeliers glittered above him as he was ushered into through one of the many doors that adjoined the hall.

"May I present Mister…" The house elf turned to Sampson.

"Sampson" he finished. "From the Magical Law Enforcement Squad."

This didn't seem to impress any of the occupants of the room. The lady, who he presumed was Walburga Black, just looked at him disdainfully as if this was completely beneath her. Her face conveyed traces of beauty, but despite her striking grey eyes and sleek black hair her expression was cold and hard.

The man sitting next to her rose in greeting, however his expression was no more welcoming.

"Please, take a seat," He said gesturing to the chair opposite him and his wife.

"Thank you. Now onto the matter at hand, you son Sirius. When was the last time you saw him?" He asked, taking a blue notebook emblazoned with the Law Enforcement crest out of his bag.

"Last night around midnight," Orion replied stiffly.

A full five seconds passed before Sampson decided Orion wasn't going to elaborate.

"And when did you discover he was missing?" He pressed on.

"Around 1am after we heard him walking down the stairs and realised he had taken his belongings with him."

"I see," Sampson replied scribbling in his notebook "and was there any reason you know of that influenced his decision to leave home?"

Sampson regretted this question almost as soon as it had escaped his lips. Orion had shifted uncomfortably and Walburga was glaring at him as if he had said something grossly offensive.

An awkward silence descended on the room as Sampson stared avidly at his notebook, trying to avoid eye contact.

"He had an argument with mother last night." The voice had piped up from the corner, where a young boy sat. Sampson had not even noticed him when he had first entered the room. The boy couldn't have been older than fourteen, and had an odd expression on his face that was halfway between distain and boredom.

"Regulus," his father interjected "Please leave your mother and I to deal with this. I hardly think the conversation last night was relevant." Orion spoke quite pleasantly but Sampson was convinced of a rather menacing tone lurking beneath all the pleasantries.

The boy looked a bit startled and quickly averted his gaze back to the copy of Standard Book of Spells he had been reading. Sampson got the distinct impression that would be the last time he would speak out of turn. He instead turned his attention back to his parents, deciding to push on with the essentials.

"So, any idea of where he might have gone?" Sampson said diplomatically.

"We imagine he will have gone to one of his school friends. He is very friendly with a boy named Potter. I believe the family home is in the West Country somewhere" Orion said vaguely whilst his wife continued to shoot him dark looks. He wasn't sure what he had done to deserve this treatment, but it was overtly clear that she did not appreciate his presence in her home. He wondered fleetingly if there was any way they could feasibly know his blood status. Maybe she had just assumed, the surname he had inherited from his muggleborn father did not suggest a noble lineage.

"Thank you," Sampson replied, trying to hide his discomfort "That is a good starting point. We will be sure to ask the Potters to inform us if they see him. Did he have any money on him?"

"Not that I know of. We haven't been to Gringotts yet this summer and I know he had spent all of his money from last year on Hogsmeade visits buying junk and things full to the hilt with sugar," His father replied disdainfully.

"Right, so probably not got enough money to travel to the West Country. Well not legally at least. We'll check with the Night Bus to see if they've seen him and investigate whether he might have stowed away on muggle transport, but otherwise it seems logical that he might have stayed in London."

Orion nodded silently.

"Well we will do our best to find him, and will be in touch as soon as we have any information on his whereabouts. If you hear anything from him yourselves please do send an owl."

Sampson rose out of his chair and followed the house elf out of the door he had arrived through. The house elf closed the door behind him and Sampson was convinced he could hear raised voices. As he turned to exit the house, the door flew open and the young boy exited the room looking more than a little bit flustered.

Sampson did his best to ignore the boy, not wanting to get him in any more trouble than he evidently was in already. Trying also to ignore the now very heated discussion taking place in the room behind him he continued making his way towards the exit, sidestepping a particularly ugly umbrella stand.

" _Wait._ " A voice behind him said.

Sampson turned round to see the boy standing by the stairs, shifting his weight awkwardly from one foot to another.

"I think you should know that Sirius won't come back. It's not worth trying to find him, and even if you did my parents are arguing as to whether they will even let him back in the house," Regulus said quietly, inclining his head towards the room they had just exited. His face was expressionless, but Sampson thought for a fleeting moment he could see sadness behind his grey eyes.

"Oh, well protocol states that we still have to attempt to find him. He's under-age you see," Sampson replied, trying to maintain his professionalism.

"Well it's your time you're wasting," Regulus shrugged, as he started to walk up the stairs.

Sampson sighed, taking this as his cue to leave. However just as he was stepping through the door, his curiosity got the better of him. He didn't mean to say it out loud, but before he knew it the words had escaped his lips.

"What did they argue about?"

Regulus stopped his ascent and turned round to look at Sampson. His dark grey eyes bored into Sampson and after a long moment's hesitation he finally spoke.

"Mother wanted him to get married."

Sampson started at this revelation before remembering that arranged marriage was actually a fairly common occurrence in the old pureblood families, especially where staggering amounts of money and property were at stake. But still, the missing boy had only been sixteen, hardly old enough for that.

"Who to?" Sampson asked. He was probably pushing his luck now, and the look on the boy's face said as much. The voices down the hall were getting louder and Sampson could have sworn he had heard something fragile shatter against the wall.

Regulus again took a while to answer, surveying Sampson intently with a rather curious look on his face. With a cursory glance down the hall he finally spoke.

"Mother had someone in mind for him…." he trailed off uncertainly, not quite meeting Sampson's eye. "It was a very eligible match for both parties."

"But he wasn't interested in this girl?" Sampson asked hesitantly.

The corners of Regulus' mouth twitched slightly. "No, I don't think he was that keen," he replied softly, as he disappeared up the stairs.

* * *

A/N. I hope you liked the start of this story- any feedback or comments would be greatly appreciated!


	2. Unanswered Questions

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* * *

 _Unanswered Questions_

 _James_

* * *

James was flying, soaring high above the crowd as he gripped the quaffle to his chest. One more goal and England would win whether or not they caught the snitch. And he could be the chaser that scored it. He ducked a bludgers as the crowd roared in his ears. Bagman would sort that bludger out for sure; he could see him to his left clad in the same red and white that he was. He leant forward on his broom and whizzed past an opposing chaser. With the hoops fast approaching he extended his arm- this would be the shot that the Prophet would be writing about for years, the shot young boys would tell their children about twenty years down the line. The quaffle left his fingertips, destined for the middle hoop that now stood directly in front of him. The keeper had dived for it but there was no way he'd reach it in time.

Bang. The hoops in front of him seemed further away now. The crowd less loud in their roaring appreciation.

Lightning flashed at the window. James groaned, why now? He'd been in the middle of one of the best dreams he'd had for a while. Trust the weather to come and ruin the first night he hadn't dreamt about the disappearing and murders of the ongoing war. Ignoring it, he rolled over and buried his head under his pillow. It was raining like it usually was in Devon and he wasn't going to let any thunder and lightning interrupt his dreams of quidditch stardom. He began to drift off again, seeing Lily Evans as the crowd as he completed his lap of honour, the cup held high about his head.

The noise came again. This time, James was awake enough that to know it wasn't thunder, and sitting up in bed, he groped around on his bedside table for his glasses. His hand merely fell on his wand and he tightened his fingers around it.

"Lumos," he grumbled, illuminating his bedside table. His glasses were nowhere to be seen; all James could make out with his blurry vision was a half-eaten chocolate frog. Idly, he shoved it into his mouth, wincing when it tasted a little dusty and wondering where he'd misplaced his glasses.

He'd just stumbled drowsily to his feet when he heard the noise again, loud and sharp over the low rumble of thunder. It was clearly coming from outside his room, and rather baffled, James rummaged around for a shirt on his bedroom floor and pulled it on. Struggling with the latch, he yanked open the window.

He hadn't been wrong about the weather. The rain lashed his face and the wind tore at his shirt. He could feel his hair getting untidier by the second and he was struck by the sudden urge to flick his wand and summon his broomstick from downstairs. He loved nothing better than flying in a storm- to throw caution to the wind and enjoy the thrill of being just that little bit out of control. Maybe his dreams of quidditch had been a sign that he was long overdue a good excursion on his Nimbus 1975.

He was still contemplating going for a night-time flight around the countryside when a voice from down below reminded him why he'd opened the window in the first place.

"Oi," the voice said again, louder this time. "Prongs. Down here."

James frowned. "Sirius?" he whispered into the darkness. Excitement gripping him, he leant out over the windowsill just like his mother had warned him not to as a child, great raindrops running down his neck. Even leant halfway out of the window like that though, James couldn't see a thing. Without his glasses, he might as well have had his eyes shut. To be truly honest though, James didn't think that he'd have fared all that much better with his glasses. There was no moon tonight and Sirius and his dark hair would blend right into the inky surroundings.

There was shuffling down in the flowerbeds below before Sirius replied. "Yeah," he hissed. "Can I come up or not?"

James squinted a little harder- a wasted effort. "Sure," he said, opening the window wide enough for him to climb through. "What the fuck you doing here though?"

There was a long sigh from down below. "James," Sirius said lightly, and James winced; Sirius only used his proper name when he was irritated at him. "It's pissing it down out here. Can we have this conversation later?"

"Yeah sure," James grinned. "Come right up then. It's pretty easy if you use the trellis for footholds. Try and mind the roses th-"

It was too late. James heard the distinct sound of stems snapping and a few moments later, he was almost hit in the face by one of Sirius' feet.

Grabbing his glasses from his bedside table, James lit his ceiling lamp. Light flooded the room and James took in the state of his best friend, who was now slumped against the wall beneath the window. Rivulets of rain were running down his face, his hair was plastered to his forehead and the muggle jeans that he had bought with the primary aim of pissing his parents off were dark with water and causing a large puddle to form on the floor.

"Fuck, Padfoot," he laughed, "You're soaked to the skin."

"And you sound like your mother," Sirius muttered.

James grinned. "So what brings you to fine, fine Devon?"

"Argued with my parents. Let's leave it at that."

James could tell from the tone of his voice not to push him. He knew Sirius better than that. If it had been Peter sat in front of him, James knew he'd have got the full story out of him immediately. Even Remus, who was on the quiet side at the best of times, might have been persuaded to talk. Sirius, on the other hand, was another matter. He could be moody and surly, and if he didn't want to talk, he wouldn't.

James thus left him to it, and he'd just found his glasses in time to see Sirius pull off his sodden shirt. Often recently, James had found himself a little bit envious whenever Sirius stripped off in front of him- his best friend was both taller and broader than James could ever hope to be, despite the fact that he didn't even take Quidditch practice seriously. But right now all James noticed was that Sirius had clearly been fighting. Bruises the colour of deep violets were blooming across one shoulder and someone's fingers had left yellowing marks around his left wrist- as if they'd grabbed too hard.

Sirius saw him looking and scowled. He got to his feet and turned back to the window. "Forgot my stuff," he mumbled. Leaning out like James had done before, he reached into the back pocket of his jeans for his wand and levitated up a large trunk.

James raised an eyebrow. It looked like he'd brought a significant amount of belongings. The trunk was his large school one and even his broomstick had been tied to it. This clearly hadn't been any spur of the moment decision.

James met Sirius' eye. "Pretty serious argument then?" he asked lightly, knowing he had to tread carefully here. Even he wasn't completely immune to Sirius' tempers.

"Mmm," Sirius agreed. He kicked his trunk against the wall and it must have had a feather-light charm placed upon it, for it moved easily. "Anyway," he added. "Can we talk in the morning? I'm shattered."

James was beyond curious but he forced himself to nod. "Sure."

Taking his glasses back off and placing them on his bedside table where they would be easily found, he clambered back into bed, rather thankful that it was Sirius he'd be sharing his double bed with and not any of his other friends. Where Peter snored and Remus was a notorious fidgeter, Sirius was a heavy sleeper and tended to stay put silently until he was woken up.

Flicking his wand lazily, James put out the lamps as soon as Sirius was settled next to him. "You okay?" he yawned. It was rather nice having someone to chat to across the darkness and James was pleasantly reminded of being at Hogwarts- where it always seemed that he had three brothers instead of being an only child.

Tonight, however, Sirius was already asleep.

* * *

Sun was streaming through the window when James opened his eyes the next morning. With a jolt he remembered that he'd forgotten to close the window last night, and sure enough a large puddle of rain water had formed on the floor. He grabbed his wand off the bedside table, he needed to clear it up before his mum saw it. The house was old and neither of his parents would appreciate a large damp patch on the ceiling below no matter how good their magical repairs might be.

He waved his wand trying to recall the charm he needed. Charms had never been his favourite, he'd always been much more of a transfiguration fan himself. Nonetheless the water disappeared only leaving a slight mark. His parents surely wouldn't notice.

He got dressed and headed out the door. Glancing behind him he saw Sirius was still fast asleep, the covers pulled over his head. Judging from the journey he must have completed last night he thought he could probably do with a solid night sleep. Leaving him to it, he bounded down the stairs two at a time. He'd forgotten how dull it was home on his own. His best friend's arrival would surely change that. Things were always much more fun when Sirius was around.

His mother was in the kitchen, sitting at the table reading the Daily Prophet whilst also controlling half a dozen pots and pans on the stove. She flicked her wand and the heat turned up, the rashes of bacon she was cooking sizzling and spitting.

"Mum," he said over the hissing of the cooking bacon. "Sirius is here. Arrived late last night. Apparently he's argued with his parents."

"Again?" she sighed, putting the Prophet down.

"Mmm," James agreed. This was indeed not a rare event. "But I think it's serious this time."

"Do you want me to send an owl to his parents and ask if he can stay for the rest of the summer?"

"Dunno," James shrugged non-committedly. "Maybe ask him when he gets up."

"Yes that would be best wouldn't it," his mother replied, resuming her perusal of the Prophet. James caught a glimpse of the headline. Crouch, Head of Magical Law Enforcement was arguing the case for using unforgivable curses against Death Eaters in the Wizengamot. They were due to vote on it tomorrow afternoon and if it went through it would be the biggest change in the war strategy so far. James wasn't sure what he thought. He could certainly see the logic in knocking off a few Death Eaters who frankly deserved nothing less, but he knew it was flawed. He could practically hear Lily Evan's disapproval. He knew exactly what she would say, and she was probably right. She always was when it came to the moral high ground. She was not unlike Remus in that respect.

The day continued in a rather boring fashion. He'd had two helpings of breakfast, helped his father with his godforsaken vegetable patch and polished his broomstick to perfection and Sirius had still not gotten up yet. James had gone in and out of his bedroom all morning but every time he was met by a still sound asleep Sirius still wrapped up in the duvet.

It was almost dinner time and James was sitting in the living room with his parents, dozing on and off as Celestina Warbeck crooned on the wireless. He couldn't say he liked the style of music, but it was at least better than the news. Every hour he'd listened to the same report over and over again. He now knew with absolute confidence how every bloody single member of the Wizengamot was predicted to vote on the upcoming session on the unforgivable curses. The only semi interesting part had been an interview with Dumbledore, who predictably opposed the proposals as one would expect.

The door opened slightly, and James saw Sirius shuffling into the room, suppressing a yawn. Despite the hours he had slept he still had dark circles under his eyes, his hair was uncharacteristically untidy as if he hadn't brushed it for days and he was sporting what must have been several days' worth of stubble. James could see the look of concern on his mother's face, and wanting to avoid an awkward conversation he jumped to his feet.

"Padfoot, want to play a game of gobstones?" he asked, suggested the first thing that came into his head. He could still see his mother looking concerned out of the corner of his eye, but hopefully she knew better than to say anything. Any comments of his best friend's rather dishevelled appearance would certainly not be appreciated. Sirius must have known how he looked.

Sirius nodded silently, sinking into the seat next to where James had been sat. They sat in silence for what felt like hours as James set up the game of gobstones, fumbling as he tried to ignore his mother trying to catch his eye.

"So Sirius," his mother started. James groaned inwardly. Why did she have to say something? Couldn't she see that he didn't want to talk? He knew he saw her as the second son she never got round to having, but sometimes she just needed to take a step back. However he supposed he could say the same about him, it wasn't just Sirius who she was overbearing with. But that was the price you paid when you were the sole child of elderly parents.

"How has your summer been?" she continued, her tone light. Not that would fool Sirius though. He'd glanced up and was shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"Fine."

His monosyllabic answer hadn't been what his mother had been after. She raised her eyebrows but to James' relief fell silent.

"Toss a knut to decide who goes first?"

"Sure."

"Dragon or goblin?"

"Goblin."

"Unlucky mate, it's dragon."

Sirius just shrugged and sunk even lower into his seat. James took his turn first and the game began. Neither of them were really in the mood for gobstones, that much was obvious. But it served its purpose as a distraction he supposed. Even if Sirius was playing so badly he'd contemplated letting him win a game deliberately. But Sirius hadn't seemed remotely bothered by losing four games in a row so he'd left him to it. Probably the safer option- Sirius was never one to appreciate anyone taking pity on him.

Midnight came and went and James supposed there was no point staying up much longer, not when his best friend was such poor company. James helped Sirius retrieve his trunk, they said their goodnights and Sirius trudged into the room he usually slept in when he stayed at the Potter's. James was sure Sirius would have cheered up by the morning. Whatever was weighing on his mind would surely have lifted once he'd had another good night's sleep. And in a bed by himself this time, that had to help.

* * *

"James!" his mother's voice rang up the stairs.

James rubbed his eyes and looked at his clock. Even without his glasses he could see that the time was just after 9am. Something had to be up for his mum to wake him up at this time on a Sunday morning, she knew him better than that.

"What?" he called back, hoping whatever she wanted didn't involve having to get out of bed.

"There is someone a the door asking for Sirius?"

"What's that got to do with me?" James hit back, but he had to admit he was curious. It couldn't be any of their mutual school friends- his mum would surely have recognised Peter or Remus if they turned up at the door. Maybe Peter had lost so much weight over the summer he was unrecognisable. He supposed that was a possibility. A remote one at least.

"Well you're his best friend- I feel you should wake him up."

"Why?" God his mum was such a coward sometimes. The worst Sirius would give her was a dirty look and a sarcastic comment.

"Well teenage boys need their _privacy_ …." She trailed off.

James thought it highly unlikely that Sirius had chosen to sleep completely naked with no covers or was violently wanking at 9am on a Sunday morning but he supposed he didn't really want to argue those finer points with his mother. Pulling his dressing gown on, he traipsed down the hallway to Sirius' room wondering who this mystery guest could be.

He knocked loudly but no response came. That wasn't surprising, Sirius was one of the deepest sleepers known the wizarding kind. Sighing, he shunted open the door and walked in. As expected Sirius was fast asleep face down on the bed with the pillow over his head.

"SIRIUS!" James yelled at the pillow, hoping that would get the message across.

Sirius just groaned and tightened his grip on the pillow.

"Get up will you- someone is at the door for you."

"Who?"

"No fucking idea mate- I'll go and find out. But get up. Don't go pissing my mum off on day two."

"Never." Even muffled by the pillow James could hear the sarcasm.

"Yeah well _behave_."

"You know I love your mother."

"None of _that_ either…" James sighed as he recalled several terrible related incidents to Sirius' last statement. Padfoot would flirt with anything, his mother included.

James made his way down the stairs, tightening the belt on his dressing gown. Whoever it was at the door he hoped they wouldn't mind him still being in his pyjamas and dressing gown.

"Finally," his mother scolded as he entered the living room. A man was sitting in the corner with a large red notebook in front of him. He couldn't have been much older than James himself and he had a weird sensation that he'd seen this man before.

"That's not Black," he commented as James took a seat opposite him.

"No, I'm James Potter," he replied, extending his hand.

The man took it and James suddenly realised where he knew him from. He'd been a beater for Hufflepuff at least two seasons ago. He surely must have left Hogwarts by now.

"Ah yes, I remember. Gryffindor chaser now captain I believe? I'm Sampson, from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad- Hufflepuff beater until my final year."

James smiled. It seemed he wasn't the only one who remembered people based on their quidditch positions.

"What do you want with Sirius?" James asked, going straight to the point.

Sampson hesitated, and shot a look at James' mother. He obviously hadn't spoken to her either for she leaned forward, evidently anxious to hear what a member of the Ministry was doing in her living room asking for her son's best friend.

"I'm here on behalf of his parents," Sampson answered slowly, his gaze switching from James to his mother as if trying to read their reactions.

"Why?" James asked, his tone short.

"It seems he didn't tell them where he was going," Sampson replied.

"Yes," his mother interrupted as James prepared to argue. "Well he's here now, so you can tell them he is safe and sound. Nothing to worry about."

"Yes, well his parents would actually like him back." Sampson said, straightening up as if preparing for a fight.

"Well he wants to stay here," James shot back, automatically tightening his grip on his wand.

"I think Mr Black should be the one to tell me that."

"Yes of course." His mother had appeared by his side and placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. "James go and get him, he should have been here by now-"

As if on cue, the door opened and Sirius appeared dressed in his muggle jeans and t-shirt. He shot a dark look at Sampson as if he knew what he was here for. Looking at the man in more detail, James thought he ought to have realised why he was here. He was dressed in the navy robes of the Magical Law Enforcement and a Ministry seal emblazoned the blue notebook he was holding.

"What do you want?" Sirius said, making no attempt to hide his contempt for the man that stood in front of him.

"Your parents reported you as missing and I was tasked with-"

"Finding me. Well now you've found me so well done and goodbye."

Sampson looked a bit taken aback at the unashamed rudeness but stood his ground. He was a big man, and no doubt he had faced more hardened men than Sirius in his time in the Squad.

"Yes, well your parents would like to see you."

"That's nice. I'll send them a postcard maybe."

"It's not optional," Sampson replied, his tone hardening. "You're underage and therefore still under your parent's authority."

Sirius stood up straighter and took a step towards Sampson, his expression murderous.

"I won't go," he said simply, his dark grey eyes not leaving Sampson.

"You don't have a choice."

The two didn't speak for a while, both staring the other down as if they were testing which one of them would break first. James heard his mother exhale anxiously behind him and had to admit even he felt a bit nervous. Sirius had a reckless temper and James knew first-hand how dangerous it could be.

"I appreciate that you've had a difficult time," Sampson finally said, his tactic changing. "Your brother actually did mention that your parents had wanted you to-"

"Can I speak to you in private?" Sirius said quickly, and James had to wonder what on earth Regulus had said to this man. Whatever it was, Sirius obviously didn't want it repeated.

Sampson however was eyeing Sirius carefully, and James suspected he thought Sirius might be trying to trying to get one up on him by tricking him into a false sense of security. But Sirius wasn't like that- if he was going to fight he'd fight him to his face.

"I suppose so…" Sampson trailed off, getting up slowly from his seat in the corner. "Please excuse us Mrs Potter, we'll take a short walk around the village."

James' mother nodded but didn't say anything. With that, the two of them disappeared out of the door and out of the house. They walked seemingly in silence past the window, heading in the direction of the church. James couldn't help but feeling rather disconnected. Sirius had been his best friend ever since that fateful meeting on the Hogwarts Express, yet here he was taking a stroll with a member of the Magical Law Enforcement in a deliberate attempt to hide something from him.

It seemed like hours before James heard the door slam and they both re-entered the room. Sirius didn't meet his eye but took a seat by the fireplace, his hands in his lap and a resigned expression on his face. Sampson had held back and was speaking in hushed whispers to his mother just outside the door. James leaned forwards, straining his ears to catch what they were saying.

"Thank you for your time Mrs Potter. I will close the case and Mr Black may stay with you," Sampson was saying in a hushed tone.

"And you're certain you're not allowed to discuss the specifics?"

"Afraid not, confidentiality ma'am. But please rest assured that I was satisfied that it's not in his best interests to return home. And after the effort of stowing away on a muggle train from London to Plymouth without getting caught I think he deserves to be left in peace. Seems he has a knack for being on the run."

"But shouldn't he be with his biological parents?"

"Exceptions can be made."

That seemed to satisfy his mother for she didn't reply. Sampson stepped back into the room.

"Thank you for your time Mr Black," he said, inclining his head towards Sirius. "And Mr Potter."

With that he swept out of the room, his navy Squad robes billowing behind him. Sirius hadn't even looked up when he'd come back into the room. He was slouched over in his seat, his hands fidgeting with his shirt and his eyes not leaving the floor. James sat next to him in silence; his best friend was just feet away, but to James it might of well have been light years.

* * *

A/N I hope you like the first proper chapter of this story. The chapters will now very much follow the key POVs. Next chapter will be from Lily's perspective and will be called "Reunion". As always, any feedback is much appreciated!

Sofia


	3. Reunion

.

* * *

 _Reunion_

 _Lily_

* * *

Lily Evans scanned the crowds, trying to pick out at least one person she knew amongst the gathering on the platform. There were some Hufflepuff 6th years to her left; she knew them well enough but didn't particularly fancy the tedium that she'd have to endure if she stopped to engage in conversation. They were nice enough but were all dull as could be, and she wasn't in the mood to listen about their mundane and uneventful summers.

"Lily!" a voice called out from the crowd. She turned round to see Marlene McKinnon standing side by side with Emmeline Vance and Hestia Jones; all of her roommates save two. Alice Hall would undoubtedly be with her long term boyfriend Frank, but it was unusual for Mary McDonald to be missing from such a reunion.

"Where's Mary?"

"Oh, she hung back to flirt with Barnes' older brother," Marlene replied, flicking her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "He's actually quite cute. Much cuter than Tom is."

"Lovely," Lily said, not really interested. She'd heard it all before; it had been the same story every year since 3rd. Mary racked up series of failed romances, whilst Marlene racked up series of casual encounters in broom cupboards. Back in 3rd year it had been disastrous Hogsmeade dates and quick snogs respectively, however nowadays it was somewhat more mature than that. Mary had graduated to long term doomed romantic endeavours and Marlene, well Marlene just liked sleeping around with as many men as she fancied.

"Shall we get a compartment?" Lily asked, as the train conductor blew his whistle.

"Yeah, we'd better get a move on," Marlene said. "Mary will find us easily enough. After all Barnes Senior isn't joining us on this journey. He graduated at least two years ago if not three."

They all lugged their trunks onto the train which was now starting to gear up to leave, plumes of black smoke now streaming from the chimney. Fighting their way through the bustling corridor they managed to settle in a spacious compartment in the middle of the train.

Marlene flopped down into the seat nearest the window. "God I am so glad to be going back. Summers at home are so dull after the first few weeks."

"Mmm," Lily agreed, taking the seat opposite her. "At least you don't have any annoying muggle sisters who have absolutely no comprehension, nor any appreciation of your wizarding studies."

"I do have Tiffany," Marlene replied, referring to her sister in the year below. She wasn't a Gryffindor though. With a much sweeter disposition and a willingness to apply herself, she'd ended up in Ravenclaw.

"Oh how is she?" Hestia asked.

"She's good," Marlene said casually. "She's one of the 5th year prefect for Ravenclaw this year. Dad was over the moon considering how I turned out."

"Well good for her!" Lily said, trying not to draw attention to her own prefect badge that she'd pinned prominently on the lapel of her robes.

"It's just as well," continued Marlene. "I think Dad was concerned he was going to get two whores for daughters…."

The group laughed at this, Marlene included.

"Your sister couldn't be less like you if she tried," Hestia said, smiling broadly at Marlene.

"Yeah I know. I don't think she's even kissed a guy yet let alone fucked one."

"Being a virgin isn't such a crime," Lily said, very aware that she was probably the only one out of the group who the same could be said for. Although, having said that she wasn't so sure about Hestia. She'd had her dalliances with boys, but she couldn't actually recall a time when Hestia had actually gone all the way.

"No it's not," Hestia agreed, giving weight to this theory.

"Have you?" Marlene said bluntly, asking the question that admittedly everyone was thinking.

Hestia blushed, but answered none the less. "I kind of did with Robin Saunders last year. But it only lasted about 5 seconds so I'm not sure it counts!"

Marlene giggled and Lily felt her cheeks flush. That was more information than she'd really wanted to hear.

"I would have thought better of Saunders!" Marlene said in between laughing. "After all, quidditch types tend to be a safe bet with all the erm practice they get in."

"That is generally true," sighed Hestia, sweeping her long black fringe out of her eyes. "But sadly Robin Saunders didn't quite fit that trend. He was an anomaly if there ever was one. I suppose he was nice about it though."

"Well at least that's something," Marlene murmured, seemingly lost in thought. "I had one back in my 4th year, Alex Rodgers, you know, 7th year Ravenclaw now, who just completely blew it within the minute and then had the audacity to get up and start studying for his Transfiguration OWL."

"That's low," Lily said, whilst they all nodded in agreement.

Their light conversation was interrupted when the compartment door slid open to reveal Mary McDonald. She had one hand on the door handle and another wrapped around a boy's waist, who Lily quickly identified as Tom Barnes; the boy whose older brother she had been said to have been seducing on the platform.

"Bye Tom, see you around sometime," Mary said in a voice more sickly than the finest Honeydukes chocolate as she planted a kiss on Barnes' cheek. Having said her goodbyes, she backed in through the compartment door and took a seat opposite Emmeline.

"Hi girls," Mary said as if nothing had happened.

"I thought you were after his brother?" Marlene went straight into the deep end.

"Well so much for greetings," Mary muttered, but smiled nonetheless. "His brother is indeed cuter. But I need a route in. That's where Tom comes into play you see."

"That's cruel!" Hestia protested, as Lily nodded her head vigorously in agreement. "You can't toy with someone's feelings like that."

"He'll get over it," Mary shrugged, playing aimlessly with her non-descript brown hair. Mary wasn't particularly pretty; not in the way that Marlene and Emmeline were at least. But she was pleasant to look at all the same. She had mid length brown hair, a round face with soft features and a slim figure. All in all Lily thought her the epitome of the girl-next-door phenomenon.

"He's only after one thing," Mary continued, now plaiting her hair into some sort of intricate braid. "And I'll give him that."

"Well I suppose…." Marlene trailed off uncertainly. "But sex and emotions are hard to keep separate unless both parties are crystal clear of expectations from the beginning."

"You would know about that," Emmeline said, as Mary opened her mouth to protest. Lily thought this statement from Emmeline quite ironic given her own on and off relationship with bloody Black of all people. Setting expectations seemed to have been a vital step in their relationship that they had skipped over in their haste to undress one another. No-one ever knew where they stood and they'd all learnt it was better not to ask. It could be a sore spot with Emmeline. Not that Lily felt overly sorry for her, it was _Black_ she had chosen to sleep with after all.

"Course I would, I'm practically an expert," Marlene said, ignoring Mary's continued attempts to try and defend herself.

"Well it's your choice Mary," Hestia pipped in. "But we won't be there to mop up the tears if it all goes down the pan."

"Fine fine…" Mary conceded as she secured a hairband around her French plait.

The conversation was again interrupted by the compartment door sliding open. However this time it was not a fellow roommate at the door. Lily looked up to see Sirius Black leaning casually against the glass, hands in his pockets and a grin on his face.

"Morning ladies," he said smoothly. "A word with Emmeline if I may?"

They all turned to look at Emmeline whose pink cheeks betrayed a hint of embarrassment.

"I did in fact ask a question," Sirius said, taking his hands out of his pockets and sitting down next to Lily.

"You're not welcome here," Lily hissed, shunting as far away as possible from him. She hoped her disgust was evident, she made no secret of her distaste for both Potter and Black and she wasn't planning to change that.

"Well it's a good job I wasn't planning to stay then," he replied, leaning back and placing his hands behind his head.

Emmeline must have thought it best to take this discussion outside for she grabbed Black's wrist and hauled him out of the room, much to Lily's relief. She had no desire to hear what Black wanted with Emmeline. Not that he needed to say, like Tom Barnes Black was only after one thing and this time would surely be no different.

"You don't think….?" Hestia asked, peering through the compartment window after them.

"Obviously, they've gone to fuck," Mary replied scathingly. Lily thought this a little harsh considering her own exploits. She didn't approve either but at least Emmeline and Black weren't hurting anyone but themselves. Mary left a trail of destruction wherever she went, and her ploy with Tom Barnes would be just the same.

"Will you be deducting points?" Marlene asked, a smile playing on her lips.

"Prefects can't deduct points," Lily sighed wearily, tired of having to repeatedly dispel this misconception. "And they're not technically hurting anyone I suppose."

"But what if a _first_ year sees. They'll be ruined for life," Mary asked in mock concern.

"I don't think either of them are erm, in to that sort of thing. I'm sure they'll keep it to themselves," Lily replied, not really overly keen to track them down and interfere, despite the numerous school rules they would be breaking. But she supposed they weren't _technically_ at school yet, so maybe she could let that slide.

"A pity," Mary said slumping back into her seat with a bored look on her face.

"Anyway, I must be going to the prefects meeting," Lily said, looking at her watch. She was due at the meeting in less than five minutes and given the crowds of students congregating in the aisle, she was practically already late.

"See you later," Marlene and Hestia chimed as Mary just nodded at her.

Lily made her way down the corridor, fighting through the throngs of students who had gathered around the sweets trolley. Trying her best to ignore the tempting scent of the numerous pastries and chocolates on sale, she hurried on.

As she neared the front of the train she passed a suspiciously empty compartment. Slowing down ever so slightly, she risked a quick glance through the door and was surprised to see Sirius Black and Emmeline Vance sitting in it. At least they were only sitting in it she thought darkly, rather glad she hadn't accidentally walked past either of them in any state of undress. Although, on closer inspection Sirius' shirt looked like it was missing more than a few buttons, and Emmeline's tie was lying discarded on the table. However the scene also looked rather awkward; Black was staring stonily out of the window and Emmeline was looking anything but comfortable. They must have had an argument. Not that it was a bad thing Lily mused; breaking things off with Black could only be a good thing for Emmeline.

She quickly moved on, not wanting to be pry too much further into what was a private moment. Reaching the front carriage, she took a seat amongst the rest of the prefects who had already arrived. She'd been a prefect last year so she doubted there would be much that was new but it would be interesting to see who the new prefects were from the 5th years. As Marlene had mentioned earlier, her younger sister Tiffany was sat amongst the new Ravenclaw prefects. She looked somewhat nervous, glancing anxiously around the room as if she was looking for someone. Their eyes met for a brief moment before she averted her gaze, her cheeks tinged ever so slightly with pink.

"Morning Lily," a voice said, and Lily saw Remus Lupin sitting down next to her. He was the other 6th year Gryffindor prefect and despite being in with Potter and Black, Lily didn't mind him. In fact, if she was honest with herself she could even say she quite liked him. Remus was pleasant mannered and generally functioned as the sole source of reasoning in his group of friends, something for which Lily was thankful for, despite his limited success at reigning them in. However, she knew that it couldn't have been an easy job. She'd fancy her chances of breaking a wild mustang more than she would taming Potter and Black.

"Hello Remus," Lily replied. "Good journey so far?"

"Average. James has already made three first years cry and Sirius disappeared about half an hour in. I've spent most of the journey playing exploding snap with Peter."

"Why did Potter make the first years cry….?" Lily asked hesitantly.

"He told them that they'd be betrothed to a member of their house during the sorting," Remus replied, his tone betraying a slight hint of amusement. Lily had to admit she had been expecting worse, and even she could see the funny side of that.

"Well I can understand why that would be traumatic," Lily answered, thinking back to how she might have reacted as a first year to that idea. One of the first people she had met on the train, other than Severus of course, had been Potter himself. He'd started as he'd intended to go on and she'd hated him at first sight. She'd have done more than cry if she'd been naïve enough to believe what Potter had told those first years.

"Yes, quite," Remus smiled ruefully, evidently aware of what she had been thinking. "But it's unlike Sirius to disappear like this, any idea where he is?"

"Emmeline."

That was all she needed to say, and judging from the raised eyebrow Remus had understood.

"Ah I see."

They sat in silence for a few minutes as everyone took their seats. The meeting began and even Lily had to admit that it was dull. The Head Girl, Dorcas Meadows, meant well but god she was boring. Highly intelligent, Dorcas was a walking stereotype of Ravenclaw house, but unfortunately lacked any sort of charisma. Listening to her present on the duties of prefects was as boring as watching paint dry. Thankfully, her counterpart, a 7th year Hufflepuff called Scott Tatum, was marginally more engaging. Although he was no better at talking in public; he tripped over his words and seemed unable to string a sentence together the moment a female entered the room. Even Dorcas, who was not what you'd call an attractive female, seemed to have him stumbling and stuttering.

Lily watched them both struggle through the presentation. Was this really the best Dumbledore could find this year? Next year would surely be so much easier, Lily could think of loads of people who would be a million times better than the two who were currently standing at the front. Remus Lupin for one would be a decent head boy; he'd be much better than the bumbling Scott Tatum.

The rest of the meeting passed without much excitement. Rules were explained, rotas were handed out and eventually they were dismissed. She said her goodbyes and started to pack up her bag. She wanted to get back to the compartment, mostly because she was curious about whether Emmeline would have got back yet. Lily wasn't one for gossip, but she was anxious as to whether Emmeline was okay, and she'd be lying if she wasn't curious to hear what had transpired. Not that Emmeline would probably say anything, she generally kept a dignified silence when it came to Black.

"Lily," a soft voice said from behind her. Lily spun round to see Severus Snape standing in the doorway she had just walked through. He looked even thinner than usual, his face pale and sallow.

"Sev," was all she could say back. They hadn't spoken since they'd argued last year after he'd called her a 'mudblood'. She hadn't forgiven him and wasn't planning on doing so. She'd known for a long time what Severus had become, but that had marked the tipping point. She could no longer excuse his actions or his ideologies, no matter how good friends they had been. He was in the past now.

"I wanted to check you were okay…." He trailed off, his dark eyes intense.

"I'm fine thanks," Lily replied coolly. "I should go, my _friends_ will be wondering where I am."

Lily picked up her pace, hurrying down the corridor away from Severus. She hadn't stayed to see what he'd said in reply, nor had she looked back to see if he was following. Hopefully he had got the message. She rather wanted to avoid a lengthy encounter with Severus on a crowded train.

A hand gripped her wrist and she lost her balance, falling to the floor. Looking up she saw Severus standing over her, his brow furrowed and his thin lips pursed. She felt his grip tighten on her wrist and she was hoisted up to her feet. She backed up against the wall, and his beady eyes followed her, surveying her closely up and down.

"I can save you Lily," he said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.

Lily didn't understand. Save her from what? He was delusional, and she needed to get out of here.

"I said I could save you," he repeated, his eyes not leaving hers.

"Save me from what?" Lily asked, her voice equally quiet.

"Him."

Lily knew now what he meant. He was referring to Voldemort. Lily didn't want to think about what that meant, despite her arguments with Severus she refused to believe he could go down that path. He just _couldn't_. She looked up at him but his eyes betrayed nothing. There was no emotion behind his eyes. They were empty.

"You're one of _them_?" Lily managed to say.

"Yes."

They stood there in silence, his black eyes boring into her. She didn't know what to say. What could she say? Severus was now a Death Eater and the final chapter of their relationship was complete. Even if she'd managed to forgive him for the mudblood comment there was no going back now. Not now she knew what he was. What path he had chosen.

"We can't be friends anymore, Sev," Lily said, feeling tears well up in her eyes.

Severus just stared at her, motionless. Eventually, he took a step backwards and turning on his heel he strode out of the carriage, his robes billowing behind him. Lily was glad to see him go, she couldn't hold it together much longer. Fighting back tears, she slowly made her way down the train. She had no intention of catching Severus up. She passed the compartment where just half an hour before she'd seen Emmeline and Black, but Emmeline was nowhere to be seen now. Black however was still there, sitting in the exact same spot he had been when she'd seen him earlier. He seemed completely oblivious to his surroundings, still staring out of the window into the distance, his head resting against the glass. Lily had to wonder what had been said. Black had no trace of the cockiness that usually emanated out of his every cell, in fact Lily had to feel rather sorry for him. Although maybe the encounter with Severus had left her feeling overly sentimental, he'd probably deserved whatever was making him sit alone in an empty compartment.

Lily finally found herself at the door to her compartment. Steeling herself for the onslaught of questions, she dabbed her eyes and opened the door.

"What's wrong?" Mary immediately asked and Lily saw both Hestia and Marlene shoot her exasperated looks. Lily deliberated for a moment, maybe it was best to tell them. After all, the situation with Severus wasn't going to change.

"Sev," Lily felt her voice shaking on the lone syllable.

"What happened?" It was Mary again who had spoken, and Lily thought her tone more eager than concerned.

"He just…." Lily started, but was unable to finish. Her voice cracked and trailed off as she slumped into her seat, putting her head in her hands. She'd tell them later, when Mary wasn't here.

"I don't think she wants to talk about it," Hestia murmured, with a deliberate glance at Mary.

Lily felt the tears running freely down her cheeks now. She took a deep breath, she'd have to hold it together better than this. Raising her head up from her hands, she looked up at the girls in front of her. Mary was still gazing at her with keen interest but Marlene's and Hestia's expressions were kind, despite their disapproval of her friendship with Severus. Emmeline also looked concerned, but Lily could tell she had her own issues to think about. Her eyes were ever so slightly bloodshot and she had a distant look about her. Obviously whatever had upset Black was also weighing on her mind.

Thankfully for Lily, the subject had now turned to Emmeline, who was also facing an interrogation from Mary. Lily sighed, Mary just did not understand people sometimes. But of course, she expected you to be there to wait on her day and night when her 6 week relationship with her 234th boyfriend had unravelled.

"So are the rumours about him running away from home true then?" Mary asked.

Emmeline seemed to pause at this.

"He…. He didn't want to speak about it," Emmeline eventually said.

Mary didn't push her but Lily could tell that she didn't buy it. She knew what Mary thought and to be fair to her she was probably right. Sirius never bothered to confide anything important in Emmeline. That privilege was probably reserved for Potter and Potter only. Not that it made it any easier for Emmeline. Lily sighed, she had no idea why Emmeline put up with him using her like he did. She certainly wouldn't let a man sleep with her without even offering an ounce of emotion in return.

However that didn't stop her feeling sorry for Emmeline. The others must have agreed for Hestia put an unprompted arm round her and even Mary didn't say anything further on the subject.

Between Emmeline's unresolved issues with Sirius and her own unresolved issues with Severus, Lily thought they'd had better train journeys during their time at Hogwarts. But they were getting older, and life was more complicated than she ever thought it could be. Even not considering the mysterious disappearing's that were happening across the country, or the increasingly radicalised Ministry of Magic; life at Hogwarts was changing. Relationships were more serious, friendships more strained, and fear permeated every crevice of everyday life. You feared for your family, for your friends, and most importantly you feared for the future. Lily rested her head against the window, closing her eyes as endless wheat fields retreated into the distance.

* * *

Lily sat in the Great Hall, gazing upwards at the beautiful starry sky above her. Tonight it was completely clear with not a cloud in sight. No matter how many times she'd sat in this hall, the sky never ceased the amaze her every time she came back. She would forever remember her first entrance into this hall after being escorted across the lake by Hagrid. She looked around, but most of her fellow classmates seemed more preoccupied with gossip and the immanent food. She smiled; maybe it was because she was muggle-born but she'd never tire of the wonder of magic.

She glanced over at the Slytherin table; Severus was sat at the far end with Rosier, Nott and Mulciber. No doubt they had also signed up with him; all of those families were well known for their fondness of the dark arts. And it surely wouldn't be a coincidence that they were all sat as far away from Dumbledore and the other teachers as possible.

A sharp clap interrupted her thoughts and Lily looked up at the high table to see Dumbledore had stood up. He was looking rather regal in his signature purple robes, this time lined with navy blue fur. The Great Hall rippled to a silence and he began to speak.

"Welcome to Hogwarts! Before we welcome our new first years, I am pleased to tell you that we will also be welcoming two new teachers to our ranks this year."

"The first is Professor Spencer-Harding, who will be taking the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts this academic year. He is joining us from his full time job at the University of Cambridge where he conducts research on the history of Latin incantations. Unfortunately he couldn't be here tonight, but you will all meet him next week for your classes."

This was news to Lily, she hadn't known that any of the muggle institutions delved into magical research matters. Although she supposed it shouldn't surprise her as she'd always wondered where wizards went to study anything that was more advanced than NEWT level. There must have been a separate branch to get round the statute of secrecy. Making a mental note to ask Professor Spencer-Harding when she met him, she turned back to Dumbledore.

Next he gestured to a woman sat at the far end of the table. "This is Professor Sinistra, and she will be replacing Professor Clanger as our new Astronomy Mistress."

The first thing Lily noticed was that the boys sat up a little taller. She could see why. Even sitting down, it was clear that Professor Sinistra was tall and willowy. She had skin the colour of caramel and could only have been a few years older than the seventh year. She looked like no Hogwarts Professor Lily had ever seen- especially when sat next to Professor Sprout who even when one was being kind could only be described as dumpy.

All across the hall, Lily saw girlfriends tightening their grip on their boyfriends' arms. Over on the Ravenclaw table, Miriam Cox had looped her arm through Ben Davies', while Pascale Delacey was shifting closer to an attractive seventh year who Lily only knew by sight.

Closer to home, Emmeline was glancing sadly at Sirius Black. Like the rest of his sex, he had leant forward to better peer at the new offerings. Perfectly still, he looked like a predator who had just spotted his next meal. Lily was unsurprised. It was well known that Black went for anything in a skirt. Like most boys their age, self-control seemed to be an alien concept to him.

And looking across the table, Lily saw that Peter Pettigrew was no better. His weakness, however, was food rather than women. They only had the sorting to go now before the tables would be laden with more food than they could eat but Lily could see him already stuffing his face with sweets from the Hogwarts Express trolley. He had it heaped in his lap and every now and then he'd sneak a piece into his mouth.

Lily was sorely tempted to take points off him but she wasn't actually sure he was breaking any rules. And besides, she didn't especially want to be the prefect who took points off her own house. Not before term had even officially started at least.

Instead she just sighed and turned to watch the first years filing in. As usual, they looked terrified as they were called up one by one to the stool to have the sorting hat placed on their head.

The first one had just sat down on the stool when Lily heard whispering from further down the table. Reluctantly, she turned her head to see who the culprits were. She was left unsurprised and had to bite down on her lip to stop herself snapping at them.

"Seven…?" Black was saying. Lily couldn't even see his face properly and she knew that he was smirking.

"Nah eight," Potter whispered back. "Look at the legs on her." It was then that Lily realized what they were talking about and she had to swallow down her anger.

"They're not that long," Black retorted lazily. "It's just the angle."

Furious, Lily looked up at the front. The first year currently walking up to the stool was a little taller than her peers. She glanced sideways at Alice. She looked about as enthusiastic about this as Lily felt and her usually smiley face was contorted into something bordering on pissed off.

Potter seemed to concede Black's assessment about the girl's legs and he shut up until the next student was called. "This one's got to be an eight," he said. "Absolutely gorgeous."

Black was shrugging. "Cute I guess. High maintenance though. You can just tell."

Seething, Lily glanced up to see what poor girl was being objectified now. She had to blink. It was a boy- a boy with a pudding bowl haircut no less.

"Huh?" Frowning, she leant over. "What in God's name are you doing?" She saw that Potter had something on his lap. "Let me look."

Potter turned, a grin already on his face. "Ah Evans… so that's why you wouldn't go out with me..." He tossed her a magazine behind Alice's back. "Eat your heart out then. Lots of girl on girl action in there."

Lily dropped it as if it were poisonous. "What the hell are you doing with a magazine like that?" she hissed.

Black smirked at her. "Extra reading," he said. "For Muggle Studies." Leaning down to pick up the offending magazine, he dusted it off lovingly and opened it to the centre page to reveal a blonde girl lying on a beach. "Look," he said, pointing. "She doesn't even move. Her hand will be between her legs forever."

Lily rolled her eyes. "What you do in the privacy of your dormitory is your own business. But you should be watching the sorting. It's incredibly rude and McGonagall's already looked over here twice."

Potter shrugged, his eyes twinkling. "Sure. If you'd rather we direct our attention to the sorting, then sure thing, prefect." He turned to Black. "So that one could grow up to be an eight right?"

Black wrinkled his nose. "Not unless she shrinks that nose of hers." He snorted with laughter. "And that next one is just unfortunate." He gestured to a plump little girl with frizzy red hair and glasses who was looking hopefully at the Hufflepuff table where no doubt an older sibling sat.

"I dunno," Peter interjected doubtfully with a glance at the girl. "James has always had a thing for redheads."

Black and Potter laughed heartily at that but Lily screwed her face up, torn between wanting to snap at them for objectifying young girls and wanting to point out that she had always been prettier than that.

"Anyway, none of them are half as cute as that new Astronomy teacher," Fabian Prewett interjected. "I wouldn't mind orbiting her star if you know what I mean."

Potter snorted. "That was the best you could do?" he hissed. "You could at least managed to have worked Uranus in there."

Lily had had enough. Closing her ears to it all, she did her best to focus on the stool at the front of the hall. She imagined that the first years being sorted were more mature than this lot. The last first year to be sorted was a sad, almost ill looking boy. In many ways he reminded her of how Severus had been back then: outcast and misunderstood.

Lily watched as the hat sat on his head, clearly deliberating over which house was to become his home for the next seven years.

"Slytherin!"

Lily sighed. Hopefully this boy would be destined for a different path than his fellow house-mates. But as he took a seat between Avery and Nott, it seemed that the odds were very much stacked against him.

* * *

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter from Lily's POV. It's one of my longer chapters but one of my favourite to write. Next chapter will be from Sirius' perspective and will be called 'Unwanted Sympathy'. Thank you to all the follows, favs and reviews so far- as always, any feedback is more than appreciated!

Sofia


	4. Misguided Sympathy

A/N This is my first chapter from Sirius' perspective who I admit is one of my favourites to write! Hope you enjoy it as much as I have done writing it.

* * *

 _Misguided Sympathy_

 _Sirius_

* * *

All of the Marauders were sitting on their respective beds, the contents of their trunks emptied all over the floor as they made a lacklustre attempt to unpack. Quite simply, none of them could really be bothered. Unpacking could wait and Sirius was bored.

"I'm bored," Sirius stated simply.

"Yeah….." James said as he lay back on his four poster bed. "Feast was pretty uneventful right?"

"Should have stirred it up a bit," Sirius muttered as he tossed the only set of dress robes he'd bothered to bring from his parents under his bed. Thankfully, he wasn't anticipating much use for formal attire. Not now he was the _disinherited_ first son of a noble pure-blood family. He couldn't say he minded though, dull family occasions had never been on top of his to-do list.

"It was rather mundane wasn't it?" Remus added, looking equally glum.

They all turned to look at Peter who was yet to contribute to the conversation. However it seemed the excess that was the welcome feast had got the better of Peter. He'd collapsed in a food coma on his bed, a half-eaten muffin still clenched in his fat fist and his eyes half closed. Sirius couldn't help but laugh. There was no wonder Peter had not had as much as a chaste kiss under the mistletoe with a member of the female sex. Not that he really felt much sympathy for him. It was due to his own greed and complete lack of self-control that Peter was like he was. He hadn't been force-fed like poor Emmeline Pancake of the Muggle Suffragette movement had been. He was proud to have remembered that very obscure fact from Muggle Studies, although it did probably help that this female shared a first name with one of the girls he was sleeping with.

"What are you thinking about?" James asked, his face suddenly just inches from Sirius'.

"Girls I want to fuck," Sirius replied, figuring it wasn't actually that far off from the truth.

"Pray tell?" James said curiously as Peter yawned loudly.

"Oh, I was thinking maybe McDonald?" Sirius said, inserting the first name that came into his head. Quite frankly he had no interest whatsoever in fucking Mary McDonald. Within one hour of sleeping with her, the whole school would know every intimate detail as surely as if she'd paid the Prophet to run it on the front page.

"McDonald?" James asked, throwing Sirius a weird look. "You sure about that mate?"

"She's with Tom Barnes now anyway," Remus said from over the top of his copy of Quidditch through the Ages.

"How come I don't know that?" James demanded, turning to face Remus.

"God relax Prongs, she's only been going out with him….." Remus paused to look at his watch. "A grand total of eight hours."

"God, I hate romances that start on the train. They're so cliché," James sighed as he flopped backwards onto his bed. "How do you know about this new development then? Got a close female confidante we don't know about?"

"Afraid not, Evans just told me during the prefect meeting."

"Oh," was all that James could say, a wistful expression gracing his face at the mention of the God forsaken Lily Evans. Quite frankly Sirius still couldn't see what all the fuss was about. He would have given up long ago. No girl was worth that level of stress and anguish. Especially one that wasn't sleeping with you. Or one that didn't even like you.

"Do you think we made her jealous at the feast?"

"Jealous of what?"

"The girls in that muggle magazine?"

Sirius shot a look at Remus who was looking equally amused.

"Well," Remus started diplomatically. "I think she certainly took notice but probably not for the reasons you would want her to."

"In other words mate she still hates you," Sirius added upon seeing the puzzled expression on James' face. "I'm not sure porn has that effect on women Prongs. Especially girls like Evans."

"What do you mean? Girls like Evans?" James demanded.

Remus sighed. "All he meant was that she's a _nice_ girl She's unlikely to want to be plastered all over the centrefold of Playboy in bunny ears with a distinct shortage of clothing."

"Right" James answered vaguely, evidently preoccupied with the image Remus had foolishly just put into his head. Although Sirius couldn't say it was a bad image. Whilst he didn't share his best friend's adoration of the red head you couldn't deny she was a great looking girl. It was just the personality that was a problem.

"So what's the deal with you and Emmeline," James asked, seemingly having gotten over his Evans induced euphoria. Whilst Sirius was glad to have moved away from the topic of Evans he wasn't sure this subject was all that much better.

"Not sure."

"Well you haven't slept with her yet. Is that not on the agenda this year?" Remus said, cutting a picture of Puddlemere United out of his book.

Sirius didn't answer, instead rolling onto his back to look at the ceiling with a small smirk on his face.

"Wait, you have?" Remus asked, looking from James to Sirius and back again. "When did I miss that?!"

"Whilst you were getting cosy with Evans during the prefects' meeting," Sirius said lightly, ignoring the indignant look on James' face.

"Right," said Remus. "Right…."

"What?"

"So are you going out with her?" James asked, prodding his arm.

"Nah, it's less serious than all that."

"Does she know about this?" Remus asked, ever the upholder of female rights.

"We talked about it," Sirius said, deciding to omit the rather unpleasant argument they'd had over it. Yawning, he rolled over onto his front and propped himself up on his elbows.

Remus didn't say anything, but Sirius could tell he wasn't convinced. Not that he cared all that much. Remus was one of his best friends, but they did disagree on a great many number of things. Thankfully they'd agreed to disagree on this point a long time ago, but that still didn't stop Remus from letting his opinion be known from time to time. Not that he needed to say much, Remus did a good enough job of that with his face alone. In fact silence was generally the best indicator that Remus really didn't agree with you.

"So are you ever going to tell us why you left home?" Remus asked, changing the subject.

"Parents. Nothing more to say than that," Sirius replied, already bored of the number of times he had been asked this exact question this term. However given the fact term only officially began a few hours ago, this looked like a trend that was set to continue. Closing his eyes, he considered the different ways he could avoid having to elaborate on this point. He could take inspiration from Peter and pretend to be asleep, or he could try and change the subject. The upcoming full moon was always a popular choice. With James at least.

But on closer examination of the expressions on James' and Remus' faces, he thought it unlikely he would get away with either of those options. The safest option, and the only realistic one he had left was to get out of here. He only needed to think of an excuse.

"I might go and check the notice board out," Sirius said, getting to his feet.

"Sure, let me know what it says," Remus replied, his eyes not leaving his book.

James wasn't so easily pacified. He'd been trying to get more out of Sirius all summer, and knew exactly what he was playing at. But he let it slide with only a raise of his eyebrow.

Making a quick exit, Sirius strolled out the door, pausing for a moment to see if they were going to say anything about his sudden departure. Pressing his ear against the door he could hear faint talking.

"Has he not said anything more to you?" he could hear Remus saying.

"Nope, barely one word," James' voice replied. "But we shouldn't talk about this now. He'll be mad if he overhears us talking about him."

Well they'd got that much right. Not that it was stopping them right now.

"True," Remus sighed. "I'm sure in time he'll tell us exactly what happened."

"The thing is I'm not sure he will…." James trailed off, obviously still cautious of the prospect of being overheard. "Anyway, _later_ Moony".

Thinking that would probably be the end of that conversation, Sirius made his way down the stairs to the common room. He might as well go and look at the notice board now, especially as Remus expected him to report back.

The common room was full to bursting when he entered. Most of the first years seemed to have gone up to bed but the rest of the Gryffindors were milling around. As usual, the biggest crowd was around the noticeboard by the window- a crowd which almost exclusively consisted of third and sixth years. McGonagall had already arranged the start of year meetings where they would decide their subjects and the list was pinned in the centre of the notice board. Below it were tattered bits of parchment encouraging them to pick one subject or another.

Sirius ignored those. He already knew what subjects he wanted to take. Peering over a lanky 3rd year's shoulder, he scanned the list for his name. They were listed alphabetically- all except his. His own name was at the very bottom, right below Walcott, Selena.

He wasn't sure what that meant. And he wasn't sure he wanted to know either.

* * *

McGonagall looked tired and drawn when Sirius' meeting finally came round. Several strands of hair had come loose from her usually pristine bun and her posture wasn't quite as rigid as it usually was. She beckoned him in, however, with the same stern look that she always possessed when talking to either him or James.

"So what will you be taking, Sirius?" she asked as he sat down.

Sirius lounged back in his chair, taking his time. "Well your subject obviously," he said. "Seeing as I did so well in it." He enjoyed the effect that that statement had on McGonagall. They both knew that he'd got top marks in his Transfiguration O.W.L, second only to James.

"Indeed," she said sharply, her expression as hard as nails. "Quite surprising considering your very poor work ethic. You should consider yourself lucky, Mr Black - and can tell you now that I said exactly the same to Mr Potter earlier- that as I am allowing you to carry on, I will be expecting hard graft this year. I do not tolerate slacking at NEWT level."

Sirius just smiled and let her rant on. He'd heard this all before.

"And Defence against the Dark Arts, I presume?"

"Yep," Sirius rocked back on his chair, ignoring the glare that McGonagall gave him. "Defence against the Dark Arts. And Charms. And Herbology."

Nodding, McGonagall wrote all three down on a piece of parchment.

"And the last one?"

Sirius allowed himself a smirk. "Astronomy," he said.

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "Astronomy," she repeated. "I don't think so, Mr Black."

"Why not? I got an Exceeds Expectations in it?" A very surprising E, Sirius had to think. Unlike his other subjects, he hadn't actually deserved that one. He'd only passed because Remus had forced him to learn it and because one of questions had involved mapping Bellatrix in the Orion system.

"Why not?" McGonagall pursed her lips and ran her finger down a sheet of paper. "Well let's see," she said. "Because you only went to eight classes last year? Eight, Mr Black, Eight!"

Sirius had to laugh. "Exactly," he said. "Imagine how well I'd have done if I'd been to them all."

"Well we'll never know," she said. "And nor will we be finding out this year."

Sirius tried to disguise his irritation. He wished Sprout was his head of house- she'd have been persuaded easily. Even Slughorn would have been workable. "Please, Professor?" he asked, trying to sound sincere.

"My answer is no. And that is final, Mr Black."

"Why? I'm turning over a new leaf here, showing interest in my academic work." He flashed her a grin. "And I've even got the name for it, Professor. I was practically born to be an astronomer."

McGonagall was not amused. "I'll tell you why I'm not allowing you to take Astronomy, Mr Black. It's because I think you're choosing this subject for the wrong reasons."

Sirius smiled innocently at her. "And what reason is that, Professor?"

"The same reason why every other young man before you has suddenly decided to take Astronomy to NEWT level despite showing very little interest previously in it." She fixed him with her stare. "And I can tell you now, Mr Black; Professor Sinistra has better things to do than answer your love letters."

Sirius grinned. Even he could see he was fighting a losing battle here. "Muggle Studies then," he told her. "I'll ruffle old Betty's feathers instead."

McGonagall's jaw stiffened. "Might I remind you that use of teachers' first names is unacceptable, Mr Black."

Sirius nodded earnestly. "Yes, Minerva."

She didn't rise to the bait. She merely glared at him for a few moments before her eyes then flicked down to the piece of parchment in front of her. "No Potions?" she asked. "Slughorn speaks surprisingly highly of you. Says that your potions aren't bad when you're not replacing the raisins in tea cakes with beetle eyes and then feeding them to unsuspecting second years."

Sirius grinned. "We only did that once, Professor. And it was hot cross buns." He rocked back on his chair again.

"All the same, no Potions?"

Sirius shrugged. "Well it was a toss-up between Herbology and Potions, and everyone knows Herbology is a doss. Could pass that in my sleep."

McGonagall pursed her lips again but drew a line under 'Herbology" on the parchment all the same.

As soon as that was done, Sirius stood up to go. He was well aware that he'd pushed his luck with McGonagall today. He wasn't quite sure how he hadn't lost points for his cheek yet and he wanted to get safely from her sight before his luck ran out.

He only reached the door, however, before McGonagall's voice rang out again. "Before you go, Sirius, I want a word," she said.

Her tone was surprisingly gentle and Sirius felt his heart sink. That, combined with the use of his first name signified that they were getting on to a sensitive topic. "Yes?" He turned back towards her stiffly.

"I understand that you are no longer living with your parents."

Sirius chewed on the inside of his cheek. "Who told you that?"

"I was sent an owl first by the Magical Law Enforcement Squad and then by James' mother. Both seemed to think I should be aware of the situation."

"Is that so?" Sirius muttered. "Well personally I don't think it's any of your fucking business."

For once, McGonagall let his rudeness slide.

"As you wish, Sirius," she said tartly. "There's nothing you wish to talk about then? No worries or problems? I might remind you that Madame Pomfrey offers a confidential service."

Sirius scowled. "No thanks," he muttered. He yanked on the handle of the door angrily. This time, Professor McGonagall did not call him back.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it- I'm sorry that it was one of my shorter chapters. But lots more of Sirius coming in the next chapter and we're finally getting some scenes that warrant the story's M rating ;)

As always any reviews is much appreciated!

Sofia


	5. Empty Classrooms

A/N First chapter from Emmeline- but it very much has a focus on Sirius. Be warned- this chapter justifies this story's M rating...!

* * *

 _Empty Classrooms_

 _Emmeline_

The Great Hall was half empty when Emmeline arrived for lunch. It seemed that the lack of sleep last night had taken its toll, and she was more than several hours late in getting up. She'd struggled to get up this morning when the others had, and despite how loud they'd all been getting ready Emmeline had slept through it completely. She couldn't stop replaying what had happened with Sirius on the train. His words were going round and round in her head like a muggle record stuck on a single track. Not to mention her regret over sleeping with him. That shouldn't have happened. However to be fair to herself at the time she hadn't know what he would say afterwards, but still. It was probably her fault; she'd been a fool to ask him where they stood. Thankfully Sirius seemed to have cheered up a bit since that conversation, but she doubted it would change how he felt. He'd been very clear on that. He liked her but it was nothing more than that.

She sighed aloud, picking at her pasta with her fork. Maybe she should just tell him to fuck off and be done with him. No man could surely be worth this amount of anguish, no matter how good the sex was. Surely she could find someone else, someone who actually valued her feelings and wanted more from her than just a hard fuck every now and then. But maybe she was being a bit harsh, she knew Sirius did care. At least deep down he did. He was in a bad place right now, and maybe she needed to cut him a bit of slack.

Glancing at her watch she realised with a thump that she was almost late to Charms. Flitwick wasn't the strictest teacher, but he'd surely take a few points for being late to his first lesson of term. Not to mention the fact she really didn't want to draw any more attention to herself than was necessary at the moment. She got more than enough unwanted attention for being involved with Sirius as it was.

Emmeline arrived just as the rest of the 6th year were filing into the classroom. Catching her breath, she took a seat next to Lily who gave her a knowing smile. Emmeline had a distinct feeling that she understood why she was feeling down, but there was no way she could have known the specifics. She hadn't told anyone about what happened between her and Sirius on the train but Lily always had a way of figuring people out.

Thankfully the class was easy enough and necessitated little concentration. Flitwick began by going through the syllabus and how the step up to NEWT level would affect the difficulty of the content. Emmeline thought it all sounded okay; at least so far she was following the majority of what he was saying. Although the requirement of non-verbal magic was more than a little bit daunting. Emmeline had tried a few times to do a non-verbal summoning charm over the summer but the most she'd been able to accomplish was the quill she was trying to summon twitching ever so slightly. However, she supposed it would be easier when she'd been taught the theory. At least she hoped so.

The syllabus took a long time to explain, and before they all knew it the bell had rung to signal the end of class. She finished up her sentence on disillusionment charms, which was the last topic they would learn this year, and began to pack up her bag.

"That seems straight forward enough, doesn't it?" Lily asked her, smiling. Of course Lily would think that though, it was well known Lily was one of the best, if not the best at Charms in the entire year. That, and Potions.

"It seemed okay," Emmeline agreed. "But I bet McGonagall on Monday morning won't be."

"Yes, that would seem a bit optimistic," Lily replied, placing her Standard Book of Spells Grade 6 into her rucksack. They made their way out of the classroom and began to head back to the common room. They took a rather long way round for the Fat Friar had warned them that Peeves had been hanging around the staircase that led down from the Charms corridor. No-one wanted to meet Peeves when he was looking for trouble so they'd all made a rather large detour, re-routing back towards the Entrance Hall and up to the Gryffindor Tower from there. All except James, Sirius, Remus and Peter though. They hadn't seemed remotely bothered by Peeves and had gone off towards the main staircase as if they couldn't care less about being pelted with chalk.

They were just making their way up from the Entrance Hall when Emmeline felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. She swivelled round to see Sirius, standing behind her with his hands in his pockets and a rather neutral expression on his face. She had no idea how he had got there, he'd gone in completely the opposite direction out of the Charms classroom. But then again Sirius and James knew this castle better than Filch himself.

"Can I have a word?" he asked, uncharacteristically quiet.

"She doesn't want to see you." It was Lily who had spoken and even Emmeline was surprised by the venom in her voice. Given how she'd been on the train she supposed Lily was trying to do her a favour. But she just wished her friends could leave her to it. This didn't involve Lily or anyone else.

Grabbing Sirius by the arm she led him into an empty classroom. Sitting down on one of the desks she turned to face him.

"What do you want?" Emmeline asked impatiently. She was anxious to keep this discussion short given how the conversation on the train had panned out.

"Fuck, I'm really not wanted today am I?" Sirius laughed as he leaned back against the wall. "I just wanted to see you. Is that a crime?"

"No…." Emmeline said unsurely as she took in the boy in front of her. Man was probably a more accurate description now she thought as she surveyed him. She hadn't taken a good look at him on the train, she'd been too busy taking in what he had to say. He was even taller than he had been last year; pushing well over six foot at least. He'd also got broader over the summer, and coupled with his dark floppy hair and aristocratic good looks he could possibly be the best looking guy in Hogwarts. She sighed, it was just the personality she needed to work on. He seemed to have completely forgotten the fact they'd finished on a rather bad note less than 48 hours ago.

"So are you going to stare at me all day?" Sirius said, gently pushing her chin up so she was looking straight up at him.

"No…." Emmeline repeated, not actually sure what she wanted.

"Is 'no' all you can say?" Sirius smiled at her, wrapping his hands around her waist.

"No," she said again, a small smile reluctantly forming on her lips.

"Well I'm not convinced," Sirius said, his grip around her waist tightening. "What say we make use of this empty classroom?" he continued, lifting her ever so slightly off the desk.

Emmeline didn't say anything.

"I would need a 'yes' for that," Sirius said softly as he readjusted his grip on her. Putting her down, he placed a quick kiss on her forehead before taking her hand. Against her better judgement she gave his hand a squeeze. He was a world apart from how he'd been on the train- he was actually being sweet today, and she couldn't resist him when he was like this. But in the back of her mind she knew this wasn't how it always was. Sirius tended to mean well but he was prone to moodiness and downright irrationalism. All in all he wasn't easy. Especially when you were sleeping with him.

Emmeline sighed. Well she might as well make the most of it whilst he was in a good mood.

"That was wistful," noted Sirius, with an odd look on his face. For a moment Emmeline thought it might have been guilt.

"I was just thinking about what you said on the train," she said softly. She hadn't wanted to bring it up, not after they'd finished on such a bad note. But she couldn't pretend that it hadn't happened, that he hadn't said what he had.

"Em, I didn't mean any of that. I was angry and upset. You know what I'm like."

This surprised her. It was rare that Sirius ever acknowledged that he was wrong. He could be as stubborn as a mule when he wanted to be.

"So you didn't mean it when you said you didn't want anything _meaningful?"_ Emmeline emphasised the last word, recalling what he'd said on the train. He wasn't going to get away with a half-arsed apology.

"I didn't mean it like that," he said simply, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"How did you mean it then?" she pressed.

"I just want things to be simple ok?" he replied somewhat impatiently. "I had a bad summer, let's leave it at that. I just don't want anything complicated at the moment."

"Which translates to you wanting to fuck me on the side?" Emmeline asked, her patience waning. She knew full well where conversations like this so often ended up, and this was fast turning into an exact repeat of the conversation they'd had on the train.

"No, it just means I don't want anything serious," he continued, his tone of voice letting her know he wouldn't appreciate the old age pun at the moment. "But it doesn't mean I don't _want_ you _._ Or like you for that matter."

"So is this _wanting me_ exclusive…?" Emmeline said slowly, knowing she was treading on thin ice.

"If you want it to be," Sirius shrugged, leaning back on the desk behind him. This hadn't been the answer she'd been expecting. Not convinced, she pushed him on it.

"But I wouldn't be your girlfriend?"

"What is it with females' obsession with labels?" Sirius sighed, putting his arm around her.

"I don't know," Emmeline admitted. "I suppose it just helps set expectations."

"Life is more fun with no expectations" Sirius laughed ruefully, with more than a tinge of bitterness.

"Are you sure about that?"

"No."

"So where does that leave us?"

"Take it or leave it Emmeline. The ball is in your court as they say."

Emmeline considered this for a moment. He was right, she was calling the shots here. Although the options he had given her weren't exactly what you'd call a wide selection. Essentially it was exclusive no-strings-attached sex, which to Emmeline seemed an oxymoron, a complete juxtaposition of possibilities, just as Marlene had warned Mary on the train. But if it was a choice between that and not having him at all, that was a different question. Sitting beside him now with her head on his chest she felt a familiar pang in her stomach; she couldn't deny she wanted him.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked gently, his hand on her arm.

"I was just thinking about how much my friends will kill me."

Sirius laughed; his trademark bark like one. "How charming. But, I don't really care what they think."

"Mmm," murmured Emmeline. She couldn't say she agreed. He didn't have to live with her roommates for the next two years after all.

"I do however care what you think," he continued, sitting down next to her and placing his hand on hers.

"I don't know what I think Sirius," Emmeline blurted out, unable to meet his eye.

He hadn't seemed to have been expecting this answer. No doubt he hadn't come across this much before. Most of the girls he slept with were foaming at the mouth for him, and probably were gossiping with their friends before he'd even got out the door. Indeed, her friends did also enjoy the gossip but they also worried for her. Lily and Alice especially. He wasn't good for her and they all knew it, Emmeline herself included.

She postponed answering by lightly kissing his neck. This seemed to be the response Sirius had been looking for. He responded in turn by placing his arms round her waist and lifting her gently onto his lap, knees either side of his legs. Straddling him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply on the lips. Locked together, she rocked her hips against him as their kiss deepened.

She felt him harden against her and she knew what they both wanted. She wondered fleetingly if he'd had any sex over the summer. Maybe he had. She wouldn't put it past him. But she pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind, now wasn't the time to dwell on things like that. She instead turning her attention to unbuttoning his shirt. He had a lovely chest; nice and toned and with a light smattering of dark hair. Running her fingers down the trail of hair that led down from his belly-button she paused at the waistband of his trousers, looking up at him. His dark grey eyes met hers and he began lightly kissing her neck, his hands still on her waist as he rocked against her.

"I want you Em," he breathed between kisses.

She didn't say anything. But she wanted him too. Just as much as she always wanted him.

Sirius was now kissing her collar bone, and one hand had moved from her waist to deal with the buttons on her blouse. Unfastening them skilfully with the one hand, he slipped her blouse off over her shoulders. Moving his kisses further down, his hand moved to her bra strap, gently sliding it aside as he pushed her against him with his other hand. Her hands moved back to the fastening on his trousers as she got more and more worked up. She couldn't wait much longer and judging from his increasingly irregular breathing he couldn't either.

Undoing the button and zip on his trousers, Emmeline continued to rock herself against him. His hand was now making its way up her thigh, eventually resting against her knickers. Placing the palm of his hand flat against her clit he began to rub gently and rhythmically through the fabric.

"Now," Emmeline gasped as she grew increasingly close. "I need you now."

Sirius didn't need telling twice. Pulling his boxers down with one hand and moving her knickers aside with the other he thrust his cock deep inside her. Moaning into his neck she moved with him as he fucked her hard. This was why she was with him. She'd forgotten how good it felt having him inside her. Nothing mattered when they were like this. It was just him and her, complete and uncomplicated.

His hand had gone back to her clit, rubbing it in time with his thrusts as he fucked her. She was getting close again. Her breath was catching in her throat and she could think of nothing other than of how he felt inside her. Tugging hard on his hair, she breathed in the beautiful scent of his neck.

"Sirius…"

Sirius' only reply was to increase the pressure on her clit.

"I'm going to," she breathed into his neck.

"Tell me something I don't know," he hit back at her.

She knew he was cocky. And arrogant. But being with him like this, she wanted nothing more than for him to want her. For her to be the only girl that got to have him like this. And she could have it. Maybe not with the feelings and romance that Mary would demand, but she could be the only girl to fuck Sirius fucking Black. Maybe that could be enough.

As if in answer to that question she toppled over the edge, coming hard as he continued to thrust mercilessly into her. Laughing gently as she cried into his neck, he slowed down as her orgasm came to a close; the last waves of it ebbing away as she struggled for air.

"Good?" Sirius asked gently as he rocked her slowly against him.

Emmeline just hummed in response, placing her hand back in his dark hair and burying her head in the crook of his neck. Sirius picked up the pace again, and before long it was his own turn. However Emmeline was too lost in her post-orgasm bliss to really give much notice. His grip tightened on her hips and he came with a series of short sharp thrusts. Exhaling deeply he lay his head back against the wall behind him, wrapping his arms back around her tightly.

Emmeline didn't know how long they stayed like that. But eventually she became conscious of the fact that she was semi naked having just fucked Sirius Black in a not so private classroom just off the Entrance Hall.

"I should go," she said eventually, tugging on his hair.

Sirius still had his eyes closed but nodded in response. Picking her up gently, he placed her on the desk next to him and buttoned her shirt back up before kissing her softly on the top of her head. She did the same for him, running her fingers along his collarbone as she did the last few buttons up. Straightening her now rather damp knickers and skirt, she got up and without so much a glance backwards she grabbed her bag and headed back down the corridor.

She didn't feel like going back to Gryffindor Tower just yet. Facing the interrogation from the girls was not what she needed right now. Especially when she thought of how disappointed Lily would be in her. And Lily was right, Sirius wasn't good for her and probably never would be.

Wanting some more time to think things over she turned back on herself and headed out towards the castle grounds. As she was making her way out through the Entrance Hall she realised she hadn't given him an answer on the offer of being exclusive. Emmeline wasn't sure what she wanted from him; she knew deep down that she wouldn't be able to separate her feelings from the sex. But Sirius wouldn't change his mind; he just wasn't the sort for long-term monogamy. But he could be lovely when he wanted to be. And then he could be…. Her thoughts trailed off as she tried to find the right word. Well he could be Sirius.

* * *

A/N I hope you liked Sirius getting naked as much as I enjoyed writing it! As always please leave a comment ;) Next chapter will be from Lily's perspective.


	6. Normal

A/N: Sorry this is slightly late but Merry Christmas everyone! This is the second chapter from Lily and follows directly on from Emmeline and Sirius in the last chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

 _Normal_

 _Lily_

* * *

Lily flopped onto her bed wearily. She'd eaten way too much at dinner and her robes were just a little tight. She knew she should have got a new pair at Madame Malkin's when she'd visited Diagon Alley this summer.

"Where's Em?" Lily asked, hoping she wasn't still with Black. It had been hours since she'd left with him after Charms and surely even they would have run out of things to do to each other.

"Where do you think?" Hestia laughed, confirming Lily's suspicions.

Lily snorted. "I really don't know what she sees in him."

"Really?" Hestia looked surprised. "Even you can't deny that Black's gorgeous, right?"

Lily shrugged. "Sure he is," she admitted reluctantly. "But he's an idiot. Him and his mates."

"Remus is alright," Alice said quietly. "He's actually rather lovely if you get him on his own. And he's a prefect."

"Yeah sure," Lily sighed. "Remus is okay I suppose."

"Cute too," Marlene laughed. "Shame he never seems interested in girls. You know I wonder sometimes whether he's asexual."

Hestia shuffled up to sit on the edge of her bed. "You know, Marlene," she said fondly. "Just because he's not interested in you, it doesn't mean he's asexual."

Lily had to laugh. "Yeah, Marli," she smiled. "Maybe he likes being the only decent looking boy who hasn't slept with you."

Marlene rolled her eyes. "Not the only one," she chuckled. "But yeah you're right. Remus probably doesn't fancy me."

"Because he's got taste," Hestia laughed.

Lily snorted again. "As if. He's got very _very_ poor taste in company."

Marlene stuck her tongue out at her. "Pot calling the kettle black, Lily."

Lily said nothing. Marlene had meant the comment fondly but she felt her good mood slip away instantly. She didn't want to talk about Sev.

"Well we all make mistakes," she said quietly after a while. "And I was wrong about Severus. He's just as much of an idiot as Potter and Black are."

"But Potter and Black are much more harmless," Hestia said softly. "Sure, they torment people sometimes but you should hear some of the stuff the Slytherins were saying about Snape on the train. They say he's a-"

"You don't need to say it," Lily murmured. "I know what they say he is."

There was a long awkward silence. There had been more than a few Slytherins who were rumoured to have signed up this year. She had to wonder if a few years down the line she'd be reading her ex classmates' names in the headlines of the Daily Prophet implicated in murders, rapes and disappearances.

"You know," Marlene murmured. "I have to wonder if that's why Sirius left home."

Lily frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I guess you wouldn't know, your parents are muggles, but the Blacks have, well, a bit of a reputation. I wouldn't be surprised if his parents were sort of expecting him to sign up."

Lily closed her eyes. "God," she said. "I mean yeah, he's a prat but he's no Death Eater." She paused. "Are the Potters like that? I mean, I've always been told they're just as rich and posh, right?"

Hestia laughed. "Nah," she said. "The Potters are a much nicer bunch. Filthy rich too but without the reputation for turning out dark wizards. Just good quidditch players."

For one of the first times in her life, Lily was rather glad that she was muggle born. She'd had no reputation when she'd arrived; she'd been a blank slate for people to make what they would of her. Nobody had seen her walking up to be sorted and remarked snidely to the person next to them "Another Evans. They're all a pain in the arse."

The conversation turned to what NEWTs everyone had picked during their meetings with McGonagall. Lily drifted in and out of the conversation, half interested in what her roommates were taking this year, but her thoughts were dwelling on Severus and what he'd said on the train. She knew their falling out during exams last year had been painful for both of them, and she'd sworn that it would be the end of their friendship, or whatever it was that they had been. She'd known deep down that Severus had always wanted it to be more than friends, however Lily had never reciprocated those feelings. At least not outwardly. Thinking back, she wasn't sure how she'd felt. Severus had been her best friend; the person she could tell anything to. But had she wanted to kiss him? She didn't know the answer to that. Part of her probably had done, if only out of curiosity, but she'd held back; she couldn't have toyed with Severus feelings like that. He wasn't like the other boys. He wasn't like James Potter whose feelings she would drag through a hedge and back again; Severus was sensitive and he'd have deserved better than that.

"Lily, are you okay?" Alice was suddenly sitting on her bed, a gentle hand on Lily's arm.

"Yes of course, why wouldn't I be?" Lily replied, trying to shake all the thoughts of Severus out of her head.

"You just seemed to have zoned out a bit."

Lily just smiled in reply, turning her attention back to the conversation that was going on around them. The conversation had moved on without her and had turned to the upcoming quidditch trials that would be held in the next few weeks. She hadn't been interested in quidditch at the best of times, however since Potter had been made captain her interest had dwindled further.

"Lily, are you still there?" Alice asked gently, squeezing her arm.

"Oh, yes. Was just listening to what they were saying about Porpington wanting to try out for keeper."

"Just riveting isn't it?" Alice asked, the corners of her mouth marginally turning up.

"Mmm," Lily murmured, trying to filter out Marlene's loud appreciation of Porpington's biceps.

"You're thinking about Snape aren't you?" Alice asked quietly.

"Yes," Lily answered, averting her gaze.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Lily considered this for a moment. She wasn't sure she wanted to talk about it. What would it achieve? As far as she was concerned she and Severus were over. It was done and dusted. Nothing more to say.

"Thanks, but I'm okay Alice."

Alice's expression softened and she smiled at Lily. "You loved him didn't you?" Alice's voice was low and gentle.

Lily's breath caught in her throat. She hadn't been prepared for that question. She couldn't answer it to herself, let alone Alice. The consequences of such an admittance would stretch too far. She couldn't afford for things to be so complicated at the moment. Even if it was just inside her own head.

"I don't know," Lily finally answered, her voice cracking ever so slightly.

Alice gave her a knowing look and went back to getting ready for bed. Pulling her curly brown hair into a loose topknot she climbed under her duvet and left Lily alone with her thoughts. Alice had meant well, she always did. And somehow, despite her better judgement Lily felt better for it. Too often she left herself alone with her thoughts. She'd never been like Marlene or Mary who spilled every innocuous details of lives at the drop of a hat. But maybe she should make an effort to confide in her friends a bit more. It had been so difficult with Severus; none of them would have understood. But now he was behind her; and she'd be free to make new friends and indulge new romances- none of which would have an oddball Slytherin with greasy hair and a penchant for the dark arts hanging over it. She could find a nice normal boy, with nice normal friends and nice normal grades and maybe that was okay.

Lily closed her eyes, going over a mental list of boys who fit this specification. Maybe normal had been a bit wide of a brief, there were way too many eligible men who fitted these specs. Making a mental note to ask Marlene and Emmeline to help narrow it down for her tomorrow, she began to drift off.

It was another half an hour before she was vaguely aware of the door to the dormitory opening. It must have been Emmeline coming back. Pulling her half-conscious thoughts away from her pool of faceless nameless boys with normal friends and average grades, Lily opened her eyes to see Emmeline sitting on the bed next to her. The others were still awake, huddled on Marlene's bed in their pyjamas giggling at the rather obvious state of their roommate.

Emmeline looked more than a little flushed. Her long dark hair was rather tangled and her robes bore the unmistakable signs of having been put back on in a hurry. Her tie was hanging loosely around her neck and the buttons on her blouse were misaligned.

"Good time?" Marlene asked knowingly, a smile gracing her pretty face.

"You'd know," Emmeline retorted, not quite meeting Marlene's eye.

"Mmm," Marlene agreed.

"Marlene," Hestia said drowsily. "Are there any boys you _haven't_ slept with? Aside from the aforementioned Remus Lupin of course."

Marlene snorted derisively. "None of the decent ones."

This even made Lily smile. Everyone knew Marlene got around so to speak. But at least she was honest and open about it, which was something Lily deeply admired in her. With Marlene, you knew what you were getting, and she always delivered on that with minimal fuss and minimal complications. It did occasionally ruffle a few feathers amongst the girls, but it never came between them for more than a term or so. Boys came and went, and even the girls in long term romances finally accepted that their boyfriend had slept with Marlene once upon a time in a dark dusty broom cupboard.

"So is Black decent?" Mary asked smirking.

"Who is this directed at?" Marlene asked, quickly glancing at Emmeline. "I mean, I don't feel I should answer when his erm girlfriend is in the room."

Marlene had used that word for lack of a better description. No-one really knew how it stood with her and Black still. Lily wasn't even sure if Emmeline herself knew. But what Lily did know was that it was better not to ask. Emmeline wasn't the best natured of all her roommates. Possibly because of her up and down relationship with the second in command of Potter's little gang.

However it appeared tonight, that Emmeline was in a good mood.

"Ha. Well I don't have the erm extensive benefit of comparison that Marlene does," Emmeline commented, nudging Marlene suggestively.

"That is true," Marlene said soberly, a twinkle in her pale blue eyes.

"Well, what's he like?!" Hestia asked giggling.

"Good," Marlene replied shortly.

"Is that all you're going to say?!" Mary asked indignantly.

"I feel any elaboration on that is Emmeline's territory"

"Well I think I'm going to have to leave you in the dark on the finer points of Sirius Black's sexual prowess," Emmeline answered, pulling off her robes and pulling on her pyjamas. She was smiling though, and judging from the still rosy glow of her cheeks she didn't need to elaborate. Lily was still yet to indulge in that particular pleasure, but even she knew the tell-tale signs of a girl who'd just had good sex. Living with Marlene was enough to teach you that.

"Oh come on!" Hestia was protesting. "You've at least got to tell us size!"

Both Marlene and Emmeline burst out laughing at this. Emmeline was shaking her head, her cheeks even redder, and Marlene was grinning at her knowingly.

"Well?" Mary prompted eagerly.

"He's got a micro penis. It's about half an inch long," Emmeline replied solemnly, obviously trying rather hard to stop herself from laughing.

"It's really quite tragic," Marlene pitched in, also on the precipice of uncontrollable giggles.

"You two are the biggest liars known to Hogwarts," Mary huffed, pulling her duvet up to her chin.

"Maybe we are or maybe we aren't," Emmeline replied, a look of mock pity on her face.

"Yeah as if," Hestia scowled. "I wish Black had a small cock but we all know it's not true."

Lily laughed at this. She had to agree with Hestia; both Black and Potter would deserve nothing better than to be endowed with less than average members. But like Hestia she also knew it wasn't likely to be true. Both Black and Potter had slept with enough girls and showered at enough quidditch matches for anything like that to be common knowledge. But still, a girl could hope.

Tuning out the conversation that was still raging around her, Lily closed her eyes again. And with thoughts of Potter and Black's fantasy humiliation whirling round her head, she drifted back off to sleep.

* * *

The sun was shining when Lily finally caught up with Marlene at lunch the next day. They'd headed out to the grounds after Potions to enjoy what was probably going to be the last stand of summer. The days were already beginning to get shorter, and as they headed in October there would be limited chances to enjoy the sunshine. At least not without a hat and scarf on.

They'd headed down to the lake, and had settled underneath a large oak tree. Lily took off her shoes and stretched out her legs on the grass. It might not have been particularly warm, but it was a pleasant temperature and there was something about being outdoors that infallibly put her in a good mood. However it seemed that the rest of the year had also had the same idea- she could see James Potter and his friends lounging on the other side of the lake under the shade of a large beech tree. Even from this distance she could see a golden snitch glittering ever so slightly in the autumn sunlight as it darted in and out of his hand. Lily snorted; as if that would ever impress her. However it seemed that she was an anomaly in that respect. A large group of giggling 5th years sat at the water's edge watching them in what was clearly devout admiration.

Trying to ignore them she turned to Marlene who was propped up against the trunk of the oak tree, her Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook on her lap and a large feathered quill in her hand.

"What do you think this new Defence professor will be like tomorrow morning?" Marlene asked, twirling her quill between her fingers.

"Well he has to be better than that old codger we had last year," Lily answered, thinking back on last year's offering. "Although I was sad when I heard he had died of dragon pox over the summer."

"I know," Marlene said, turning her book to the first chapter. "Getting dragon pox at his age though- there isn't really much you can do."

Lily pondered this for a moment. To her as a muggle-born it often seemed that wizarding healing was infallible, but of course that wasn't always the case. She supposed that at over 120 years old there wasn't much you could do in terms of treatment- muggle or magical. Lost in her thoughts, she suddenly remembered why she had tracked down Marlene. She'd spent the best part of Potions this morning thinking on potential suitors but hadn't narrowed her list at all. Quite simply she didn't really know that many boys. At least not well.

"Marlene, I was wondering if I could ask you a favour?" Lily asked her.

"Of course," Marlene said from over the top of her book. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you could suggest some potential dates for me?" Lily continued, making sure to keep her voice low. Mary was sitting just feet away speaking to Hestia, and she'd really rather she wasn't privy to this discussion.

"You want advice on boys?" Marlene repeated at her, putting down her book and looking at her with newfound interest.

Lily nodded. "I just want to find someone nice and normal."

"Nice and normal…" Marlene mused. "That's a fairly wide bracket, any other requirements?"

"Smart, not boring, and preferably not obsessed with quidditch?"

Marlene paused. "Okay, so boy number one- how do you feel about Remus Lupin?"

Lily thought this over for a moment. Remus did fit all the specifications; he was smart, kind, and generally nice mannered. He also wasn't obsessed with quaffles and bludgers. But there was one very key problem.

"He does tick all the boxes but I can't stand his friends," Lily said. Marlene smiled at this, her blue eyes flashing.

"Fair point. Well how about one of the Prewetts?"

The Prewett twins were nice enough, but they hadn't been what Lily had in mind. For one, they were more than a little bit obsessed with quidditch, having both played for the Gryffindor team since their third year. However the main problem was that they were a year older than her, and they were not shy about their ambitions to help the war effort after they left school. As much as Lily admired them for it, she wasn't sure she that it would be for her. Not at this point in her life at least.

"Sorry Marlene, but I just don't think I would be able to cope with having a boyfriend who was determined to be killed before age twenty one," Lily replied. Marlene gave her a sad smile in response. It was well known Marlene was close to both of the Prewett twins.

"Well, how about Ptolemy MacMillan then?"

Lily grimaced. Ptolemy was nice enough, and ever polite and chivalrous. However on the flip side he could be rather pompous at times, and Lily wasn't sure she could date someone with _Ptolemy_ for a first name. Her sister would never forgive her if she brought home a boy with such a silly outdated name. Her fiancé was called _Vernon,_ which was much more mundane.

"Just no," Lily laughed.

"Fair enough, then….. what about…" Marlene trailed off. "Jeremy Brown?"

Lily had never even heard of this boy, which was surprising considering that she was now entering her 6th year at Hogwarts.

"Who is he?" Lily asked, racking her brain.

"5th year Ravenclaw," Marlene replied. "Before you get all huffy with me about him being younger than you, he is a really nice boy, and is very mature for his age. I also think he's a prefect this year."

Lily considered this for a moment. She supposed on paper he sounded okay. She had some reservations about dating someone younger than her, but she supposed just one date couldn't hurt.

"I suppose he sounds alright," Lily said slowly. "Do you think he would want to go out on a date?"

Marlene laughed. "Of course! What normal fifteen year old boy would turn down a date with a girl like you?!"

Lily smiled, she didn't share Marlene's option but it was nice of her to say so.

"Well, could you maybe mention it to him?" Lily asked, hoping that Marlene would be able to set something up for her. "How do you know him anyway?"

"He's in the same year and house as my sister," Marlene answered. She took out a pink diary out of her bag and scribbled something down on one of the pages. "I'll go ask him tomorrow for you if you like. I'll suggest the next Hogsmeade trip?"

"That sounds okay, hopefully he will agree," Lily said, trying not to think about the prospect of rejection. She had never had to deal with anyone turning her down. The only person who had ever tried to ask her out was James Potter and she'd never reciprocated any of his feelings. She supposed he might be the reason other boys didn't really approach her. Not only would people be wary of getting on the wrong side of the bully that was Potter, she was sure her own rather public rejections of him would have also put a few people off. She'd cursed and hexed him more times than she cared to remember, and was universally known for having a rather lethal aim.

"Course he will," Marlene replied. "I'm sure you'll like him, and even if you don't he has to be an improvement on Snape!"

Marlene had meant this comment to be amusing, and Lily couldn't blame her for it. But it did make her sad. Snape probably had been the closest thing she'd had to a boyfriend, if only in a platonic way. They'd never discussed anything romantic but Lily had always known that friends didn't look at you in the way he had.

"Well, that is true," Lily replied, forcing a smile.

"Or Potter!"

Lily genuinely smiled this time.

"That is _definitely_ true."

She looked over to where Potter and his friends had been sat across the lake. Potter was no-where to be seen now but judging by the fact Black and Pettigrew were both standing staring up at a large beech tree, Potter must have been somewhere amongst the branches. Remus hadn't moved from where he'd been sat reading. She had to smile, sometimes she had to wonder how a boy that sensible could tolerate an idiot like Potter. Let alone like him. But the world worked in strange ways, and she supposed she'd just have to accept that she'd never understand things like that.

* * *

A/N: Hope you liked it- if you are feeling festive then please leave a review as a thank you! Next chapter is from the lovely Remus and will be called "Materiality".

Sofia


	7. Materiality

A/N I hope everyone has had a good Christmas and New Year! I'm back at work and have just about survived the first week back. I hope you all like this chapter- it's been one of my favourites to write so far!

* * *

 _Materiality_

 _Remus_

* * *

"Today class we will be covering the art of conjuring items. This is what you might call the opposite of vanishing which you should all have mastered for your O.W.L."

Remus was listening hard. Transfiguration was by far the hardest subject he took and had been his lowest O.W.L mark.

"Now conjuring an item is much harder than vanishing and requires much more technical skill. Creating materiality out of nothing is not easy," McGonagall continued, swishing her wand as she made her way up the classroom aisle.

Remus hadn't attained a bad mark in the subject but he knew he could do better than a low E. It was of course made worse by his friends glowing marks in the subject; for they had all spent years mastering the art of becoming an animagus, finally achieving it last year. Whilst Remus had watched and helped them with the transformation it wasn't the same as actually doing it. It was like learning the theory with no practical.

As if to prove his point McGonagall flourished her wand. "And thus, we have an apple."

A perfectly formed apple had appeared on the table. She made it look so easy. She always did.

"Of course, a small inanimate object such as an apple is very easy. As you get more practiced at this art we will move on to more complicated material items, and eventually living matter. I will expect you all to finish this class next year being able to conjure living creatures with _ease_."

"Maybe we could conjure Wormtail a girlfriend," James said under his breath. "You know a nice _female_ rat."

Remus had to laugh at this, even though it was poking fun at poor Peter.

"Does it count as losing your virginity if it also counts as bestiality?" Sirius snickered.

"Shut up…." Peter muttered back, his face even ruddier than usual.

"Why so serious Wormtail?" James taunted. "We all know Padfoot has a thing for miniature poodles."

"Mr Pettrigrew and Mr Potter," McGonagall's sharp eyes were suddenly on their row of desks. "No talking in my class. 5 points from Gryffindor apiece."

This announcement drew a few dark looks from the rest of the Gryffindors in the class. It was only five minutes into the first lesson of term with their head of house and they'd already lost points. Well, Remus hadn't, but he'd got used to being included in the same bracket that was his friendship group.

James was mouthing what looked like 'sorry' at an irate looking Lily Evans. She didn't seem to care much for his apology though, swishing her long red hair over her shoulder and staring decidedly at the front of the class.

"Can you talk to her for me?" James hissed at him, as McGonagall demonstrated the correct wand movement required to successfully conjure a material object.

"Why?" Remus said, trying to concentrate. "What bloody good would that do?"

"I need you to put in a good word for me."

"A word that good doesn't exist Prongs." It was Sirius who had spoken and for once Remus had to agree with his assessment.

"Fuck off," James replied, just a little too loudly.

"POTTER," McGonagall did not look impressed. Her thin lips were pursed and her brow furrowed. "I will not tolerate foul language in my class."

"I'm so sorry Professor, did I say something?" James asked. He couldn't have sounded less sincere if he'd tried.

"I will not be spoken to that way," McGonagall said as she swept down the aisle towards the desk he was currently sharing with James. "Out. Now."

James got up from his desk. Remus could tell he was trying to suppress a grin. Something he wasn't doing all that successfully. He shot Remus an amused look before muttering something inaudible at Sirius, and with that he strolled out of the classroom.

"Twenty five points from Gryffindor and detention tomorrow evening," McGonagall said after him. Remus wasn't sure if James had heard or not. He made a mental note to remind him at lunchtime. Even James wasn't stupid enough to skip a detention from McGonagall this early into term.

With James now removed from the class, Remus admittedly found it much easier to concentrate. The lesson continued without much excitement; in fact the only notable thing that happened was Hestia Jones managing to conjure a fruit that looked halfway between an half eaten apple and a rotten banana. All in all it was quite difficult to describe; it had been banana shaped but with a large bulbous, splotchy red and yellow tumour sprouting out of it. Although even conjuring that wasn't a bad attempt. Many of the class hadn't managed to make anything appear at all. Mary McDonald had got so frustrated she'd bent her wand hitting it angrily on her desk.

"God this is easy," Sirius remarked as a beautiful green apple appeared in his hand.

"I had instructed you to make it red," McGonagall had appeared out of nowhere.

"Well I don't really like red apples," Sirius said breezily, taking a bite out of the apple he'd just conjured. However, before he'd even swallowed his mouthful, he appeared to be choking, his face screwed up in disgust.

"Fucking hell," Sirius said, grimacing as he forced it down.

"And that leads me on Mr Black," McGonagall said loudly, and with a tiny hint of a smile on her lips. "To the fact that you cannot eat transfigured food. Why is this?" She addressed the class.

Lily's hand was up in the air almost as soon as the question had left her lips.

"Because of Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration," Lily said quickly, clearly hoping to win back some points. "It's one of his five principles and states that you can't make food of any nutritional value out of nothing."

"Well phrased Miss Evans, 10 points to Gryffindor."

Lily beamed, thankfully not seeing Sirius behind her rolling his eyes. That was probably for the best. But Remus did have to concede that sometimes his friend, in fact _two_ of his friends could do with being taken down a peg or two.

"I'm sure our old house elf used to," Sirius muttered as he glowered at Lily.

"Apparently not!" Peter said, copying down the words than had now appeared on the board.

"For homework I want you all to write an essay on Gamp's law covering the five principles and how they each affect elemental transfiguration. The best essays will cover the theory and mechanics of his principles. Recommended reading is on the board. Five scrolls of parchment."

"That sounds terribly difficult," Peter said quietly as he continued to scribble on his parchment.

"Yes, it does," Remus admitted.

"I will be testing you on each of the five theories next lesson so don't think you can hand in a substandard essay," McGonagall continued to audible groans from the class.

It was only the second class of term and already they had been set a five scroll essay and had a test to revise for. The year above him hadn't been joking when they said that sixth year was a huge step up from O.W.L level.

"Come on," Sirius said, stuffing his textbook roughly into his bag. "We can worry about this shit later."

Remus made his way out of the classroom with Sirius and Peter. They all had a free period now and they needed to find James and fill him in. Somehow he was positive that being absent from her class would not excuse him from the homework, nor the test.

The class reached the staircase where groups of students began to split off according to their houses. The Hufflepuffs and Slytherins all headed down the stairs towards their respective common rooms on the lower floors, or in Slytherin's case the dungeons. Remus, Sirius and Peter instead went up the stairs, following the rest of Gryffindor house towards the Tower. From there they could get the map and find James.

However it seemed that it wouldn't be necessary to retrieve the map. As they made their way up the stairs they could see James lounging on one of the steps, his glasses slightly askew. This would have been a good thing if Evans didn't happen to be between them and James. Lily, however was engrossed in her textbook, reading the passage on Gamp aloud to Alice and Hestia. Hopefully she wouldn't notice him.

"Morning Evans."

Remus groaned, God Prongs could be an idiot sometimes.

Lily's eyes snapped up from her book.

"What do you want?" she asked disdainfully, sidestepping round him.

"Nothing," James said, getting up and falling into step with her. "Just wanted to see how you were. Haven't really caught up with you since the summer you know."

"That was in fact deliberate."

"That's not very nice Evans," James said, grabbing her wrist.

"That was also deliberate."

Remus knew where this was going- probably time to intervene. Ignoring Sirius' smirk he hurried up the stairs towards them.

"You know James, we really ought to fill you in on the homework" Remus said desperately, hoping this would distract James enough to allow Lily time to get out of his way.

"Five whole scrolls of parchment! And a test!" Peter added, obviously having understood Remus' intentions. Sirius said nothing, instead leaning casually against the wall and evidently enjoying the entertainment.

"Is that why Evans is walking around with a textbook?" James replied, tearing the book from Lily's grasp.

"That's mine!" Lily yelled, snatching at it wildly. "You give that back right now you… you arrogant piece of dirt!"

"Or maybe," James continued, the expression on his face hardening. "Snivellus has just rubbed off on you. He doesn't seem capable of walking without following instructions from a book."

Sirius let out a soft whistle. This was low, even for James.

Lily had turned a violet shade of scarlet, veins visible on her temple as she turned to face him.

"You. Give. That. Back. Right. Now," she said, taking a visible deep breath between each word.

"Nah, I think I'll keep it," James said lightly. "A souvenir of the lesson I missed."

And with that James darted up the stairs, the textbook safely in his hand. Lily followed, but had no hope of catching him up. She wasn't short, but she had neither the speed nor the stamina of a near fully grown man.

"I think we leave them to it," Sirius said, watching them as they vanished up the stairs. "Maybe by the time we've got up there they will have had hot passionate sex and gotten over each other."

"Ha. You want to bet on that?" Remus asked, patting Sirius on the back.

"Nah, afraid not Mooney old pal," Sirius replied. "You see, unlike previous years, I now actually have to think about money."

"Well you'd better improve your wagers then. I seem to recall you lost over 100 galleons last year." Peter piped in.

"That is indeed true," Sirius said as they made their way slowly up the stairs. "But you know what? I'll take this bet."

"What bet?"

"Prongs and Evans."

"Are you mad Padfoot?" Remus asked, questioning his friend's sanity.

"Maybe," Sirius replied nonchalantly. "It runs in the family you know."

"So what are the stakes?" Peter asked, reaching for loose change in his pocket.

"10 galleons?"

"Done," Peter said quickly, always eager to pocket some extra money.

"That's a substantial amount for someone who relies on the Potter's generosity to eat," Remus mused aloud.

"I have confidence."

"On what exactly?"

"Prongs and Lily shagging."

"When by?"

"End of school."

"But they don't even like each other," Peter said, looking baffled.

"You see you've forgotten a very important point there," Sirius said, stifling a yawn.

"What's that?" Peter asked indignantly.

"You don't have to like someone to fuck them."

Remus watched as Sirius continued up the stairs. He was right, as much as it pained him to admit it. But Lily wasn't the sort. She was a good, decent girl, a prefect. She had way too much self-respect to degrade herself by sleeping with Prongs in that fashion.

They made their way through the portrait hole in silence. Heading up to the dormitory Remus spotted Emmeline out of the corner of his eye sitting by the fireplace. She was laughing at something Mary McDonald was saying, a broad smile on her face. She didn't seem to have seen Sirius. Probably a good thing, Remus sighed to himself. She deserved so much better.

And with that Remus followed Sirius up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

* * *

"Out of there," Remus sighed as he opened yet another classroom door to reveal two students in a rather compromising situation. Tiffany McKinnon, the 5th year prefect who was accompanying him on this particular patrol, turned her head, her pale cheeks colouring as the occupants of the room desperately tried to untangle themselves. Tiffany was so unlike her sister Marlene in both personality and looks he mused as her cheeks turned an ever brighter shade of scarlet. Most boys overlooked her, but Remus thought her interesting looking. She might not be blonde and curvy like her sister Marlene, but she had kind eyes and a slender figure. However with her brown mass of tight ringlets that could only really be described as frizzy, and her shy and rule abiding nature she generally went unnoticed.

He turned his attention back to the scene in front of him. The girl, who he now recognised as Cleo Fox, turned to the yet to be identified male and gave him a kiss on the cheek before sauntering out across the room. As a fifth year Ravenclaw he had a sneaking suspicion that she shared a dorm with his fellow prefect. This could potentially get awkward.

"Are they decent?" Tiffany asked, peeking through the door of the empty Charms classroom.

Remus nodded, unsure whether to enlighten her as to the identity of the girl. Might be better just to claim ignorance. After all, it wasn't his place to get involved, and she must have been used to it what with her own sister's reputation…. And even he in the year above knew Cleo Fox had a very similar, if not worse reputation than Marlene. In fact he was sure both James and Sirius had snogged her, and in Sirius' case probably worse.

"Hi Tiffany," Cleo said casually as she strode out of the room. She clearly had been caught in similar situations and harboured no shame about this fact. The boy, who Remus could now see was Blake Porpington, a 7th year Gryffindor, swaggered out of the room after her with a smirk on his face and a definite spring in his step.

"Evening Lupin," Porpington said breezily, winking at Cleo who was stifling a giggle.

"You're out of bed after hours," Lupin said calmly. "As prefects we are duty bound to report you to your respective head of houses."

"Now now Lupin, not so hasty," Porpington replied cheerfully "I'm sure we can sort this out. Gryffindor to Gryffindor eh?"

Lupin grimaced. He hated it when members of his house tried this on him. He made allowances sometimes for Prongs and Padfoot, if only because it made his life considerably easier, but he always did it with a twinge of guilt. He'd always imagined Dumbledore had made him a prefect with the aim of keeping his fellow marauders in line, and if that was his reasoning he'd let him down. Badly.

"I'm afraid that would completely undermine the prefects system," Tiffany chipped in nervously, shrinking as both Porpington and Jones gave her a disparaging look.

"Whatever," Porpington shrugged. "Could mean I'll miss the quidditch try outs though, and I'm probably the best keeper the house has. McGonagall has already given two people detention for the night we've got the pitch booked. Deliberately probably."

Lupin raised an eye brow "And why would that persuade me to make an exception?"

"House spirit? Loyalty?" Porpington looked angry now. "Or just not being a complete and utter backstabbing tosser? Take your pick."

"Black's better than you," Lupin replied, knowing that hadn't been the right reply. It really shouldn't matter, even if he was better than Padfoot.

"Yeah but he's so unreliable. He spends half his life in detention, so you'd at least need a decent reserve."

This was true Remus conceded, not that this either should sway his judgment.

"Not going to work Porpington. I'll be letting McGonagall know tomorrow morning."

"And I'll be speaking with Flitwick," Tiffany said quietly, not meeting Cleo's eye. Not that Cleo seemed to mind, for she just smiled at Tiffany and shrugged.

Porpington however didn't seem to share his female companion's positive outlook. He swore loudly and shot a look at Remus as if he wanted to murder him.

"Well if we lose the house cup because we have an utter shite keeper then we all know who is to blame," he said, his voice swathed with arrogance.

"I'm sure I'll cope," Remus said, trying not to imagine what James would say if they did actually lose the cup for this reason.

"Come on," Cleo said, looking down at her rather dishevelled uniform. "I need to go to bed. I'm kinda tired."

"Okay, well we can go back together. Our shift officially ended five minutes ago," Tiffany nodded in agreement, looking at her watch. "See you next week Remus."

"Oh and make sure Blake gets back to bed okay," Cleo said swishing her bouncy waves over her shoulder "He's terrible with directions. You'd never think finding a girl's clit would be quite that difficult."

Porpington's arrogant smirk vanished almost instantly. Tiffany, her cheeks regaining their scarlet hue looked nervously at Remus. However he didn't know what to say either. Probably was best to let the two of them get on with it, who was he to wade in on a domestic. Shooting a look back at Tiffany he stayed silent.

"Whatever Fox. Don't know why I was fucking you in the first place anyway. I'm not into other picking up other men's leftovers."

"Whatever. We both know you'll fuck anything that lets you," Cleo responded smoothly, taking Tiffany's hand and walking off down the corridor towards Ravenclaw Tower.

As they disappeared round the corner Remus turned to Porpington who was staring after them with a murderous look on his face, obviously stunned as what to say.

"Come on," Remus said turning to Porpington "It's late. We need to get going too."

The two walked in awkward silence back to Gryffindor tower. Climbing in through the portrait hole, they entered the common room, deserted except for Frank Longbottom who was scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment. The dim remnants of the fire flickered slightly, illuminating his face. He looked tired and drawn as he squinted down at his Potions textbook. It was no wonder the poor man looked stressed- it was well known he had ambitions to join the Auror Office, and they only took the very best.

Leaving Longbottom to his late night essay he followed a still cursing Porpington up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. He hadn't realised quite how tired he was. The full moon was approaching in a week's time and that combined with a late night prefect patrol was enough to make him feel like he could sleep for days.

Trying to be as quiet as possible he pushed open the door to his dormitory. It was gone midnight but he wasn't sure if the others would be asleep yet. There had been talks at dinner earlier of planning for the fast approaching full moon, and that could be a topic that easily took up a whole night. The full moon was his worst fear, he dreaded it from the moment he awoke battered and bruised in the hospital wing, but the others forever looked forward to their nights roaming the forest with avid anticipation. Remus had occasionally thought this insensitive however each time he pushed it to the back of his mind remembering the extreme lengths his friends had gone to make the experience considerably more bearable for him.

"Is that Padfoot or Moony?" A voice came from the window, breaking the deadly silence of the room. He'd spent enough time among his friends to recognise it as James.

Glancing over at the bed second closest to the door he realised that Sirius must still be out somewhere for his bed was empty- the sheets still neatly made up and the pillow undented.

"No, just me I'm afraid. Just got back off prefect patrol."

"Didn't see Padfoot did you? He's probably out doing something unsavoury with some girl…" James trailed off, not needing to say anything more.

"Maybe, but he knows better than to let himself get caught by an average prefect's patrol."

"Generally," James replied sleepily. "But the prospect of sex can make men think rather illogically."

"I wouldn't really know about that," Remus replied, wanting nothing more than to finish this conversation and climb into bed.

"So who did you catch at it this time then?" This time it was Peter who spoke, his voice much higher than James', and with a distinctive squeak that gave reason to the fact his animagus was in fact a rodent.

"Just Cleo Fox and-"

"Ooh she's fit," James piped up from the corner. "In fact I think I snogged her at last year's Slug Club party. Or was that Lorraine Edgecombe?"

"No it was Cleo Fox," Remus sighed, remembering the incident. Fox had arrived with Betram Aubrey however had ended the night crammed into one of Filch's broom cupboards with her tongue down James' throat. Aubrey understandably hadn't been too happy about this, and he distinctly remembered him having confronted them on their way down to the Herbology greenhouses the next morning. However sadly picking a fight with the Marauder's hadn't ended well for him. He didn't know who had cast the spell but James and Sirius both ended up in detention for using an illegal curse and Aubrey had spent three nights in the Hospital Wing having his head gradually deflated by Madame Pomfrey.

"Who was she with then? Please tell me she's not back with bloody Betram Aubrey?"

"No, Blake Porpington. 7th year Gryffindor," Remus replied, pulling on his pyjamas and climbing under his duvet.

"Oh him," James paused for a moment. "I've got my eye on him actually. Word on the street is that he's a decent keeper. Always looking for a good reserve."

Remus grimaced, James was going to kill him if his detention with McGonagall was the reason Porpington missed try outs. However not was not the time to mention that. He would cross that bridge when he came to it. Now, all he wanted to do was sleep.

"Hmm," Remus said vaguely "No offence Prongs, but I really need to get some sleep. Got a full day tomorrow and I need to get up early to start that essay for McGonagall before we see that new Defence teacher."

"Sure thing. See you in the morning then," James said yawning, rolling over to face the window. He thought Peter must have drifted back to sleep, for no noise came from the bed nearest the door. Cursing the fact that Sirius was still awake somewhere and likely to wake him up at god knows what time in the morning, he rolled over and closed his eyes, asleep almost as soon as his hit the pillow.

* * *

"Shh, keep it down…"

Remus' eyes fluttered open, he had been having a lovely dream about getting straight O's on his N.E.W.T.s and the Ministry granting him a cure for his lycanthropy in honour of his academic achievement. Even in his unconscious state he had known that it wasn't real, or even possible, but that somehow hadn't mattered. It was an escape, and an escape that he was thankful for. Rolling over he turned to face the source of the noise that had rudely awoken him. He could make out the dark figure of what he presumed was Sirius by the door, however he didn't seem to be alone.

"I _can't_ ," a female voice hissed from the doorway.

"Well you can't complain about me loving and leaving you can you?" This time he recognised the voice as Sirius', and also noted that he sounded more than a bit tipsy. Remus supposed one would have to be rather intoxicated to be as brazen as to bring a girl back to your dormitory, let alone to construe this as romantic. He supposed he should say something, but coming between a drunk Padfoot and his girl was probably not the best idea. Hopefully they would make some more noise and wake up Prongs. He'd know what to say. He always did when it came to Sirius.

"Fine. But pull the curtains to," the girl replied, sounding more than a bit anxious.

"I don't know about that, are you not into voyeurism?" Sirius replied, sarcasm dripping off his every syllable.

"Funnily enough no," the girl said, fumbling past Peter's bed and climbing into Sirius'. Remus' eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness and he now could see the girl as more than just a faceless silhouette. His eyes were immediately drawn to the long dark hair- fuck, it was Emmeline. He hadn't though it had been anything serious with Emmeline, however, judging from the fact that she was now stripping off under Sirius' duvet he had to have his doubts. It wasn't like Sirius to bring females back into his own territory, and Remus wasn't sure what this meant. He averted his gaze, he had no particular desire to see Emmeline Vance naked, even if it was near pitch black.

With a rather loud thump and the sound of curtains being drawn, he thought it would probably be safe to look. Still weighing up whether or not to say anything he watched silently through the slight gap Sirius had left in the curtains as his fellow roommate pinned Emmeline and beneath him and began to kiss her. Remus was actually surprised by how gentle he seemed, his arms were wrapped round Emmeline and he was trailing kisses lightly down her neck. Remus rolled over, he had seen Padfoot doing an all manner of sexual things that he'd rather have not seen, but anything with an ounce of intimacy was a step too far. That was something that was never acceptable, regardless of how close friends you were.

"Sirius?" James groaned from the corner, his tone somewhere between annoyance and disbelief.

"Mmmm," Sirius replied, his lips not leaving Emmeline's neck.

"Umm, could you maybe do this someplace else?"

"Do what somewhere else? What's happening?!" Peter piped up from the corner sounding completely and utterly bewildered.

"Fuck his…" James paused, evidently thinking of the most tactful word to describe whatever Emmeline was "Lady friend…" He eventually settled on.

"Wait there is a girl in our dormitory?!" Peter cried out, evidently more than a little distressed at this revelation.

"I'm not fucking her. Been there done that already tonight," Sirius replied to James' outstanding question, as if this made the fact he was snogging a girl in the bed next to them completely acceptable.

Remus wished he could see Emmeline's face. No doubt she must have been as uncomfortable, if not more so, than the rest of them were right now. God only knows how it would feel to be in that situation and Remus felt a pang of pity for her. She made poor choices, that much was a given, but regardless of how little Remus understood of girls' motivations for fucking one of his best friends, he couldn't help but feel more than a little bit sorry for her. After all, he supposed it wasn't her fault who she fell for. And Sirius had always had a way of keeping people coming back for more. He was reckless, too good looking for his own good and couldn't give a fuck what anyone, other than maybe James, thought about him. All in all it was a recipe for disaster when it came to girls and their rather fragile teenage hearts.

"Right," James said eventually, probably realising he was not going to get anywhere with this conversation. "But anything past second base and you will regret it."

"Mmhmm," Sirius replied absent-mindedly, obviously still preoccupied with whatever he was doing to Emmeline. She had remained silent throughout this exchange, whether from embarrassment or because she was enjoying whatever Sirius was doing to her, he didn't know. He suspected the former. Regardless of how much firewhisky Sirius had shared with her, he doubted she was the sort of girl to enjoy such a voyeuristic experience. A girl like Marlene would have taken it on the chin, but not Emmeline, she was far too uptight to simply not give a damn about the fact three boys were commenting on her presence in their best friend's bed. Not that she'd ever admit it though.

* * *

A/N I'd just like to say thank you to all the people who do review this story! My regulars know who you are! I love chatting with all of my reviewers so please do leave a review if you like to chat all things Marauders!


	8. Gemino

_A/N_ We're back with James for this chapter in the first DADA class of the year. I hope you enjoy! Thank you to all my regular reviewers (you all know who you are!) and all the new followers who have subscribed. I post my chapters just before I go to bed and it's great waking up to reviews and follows.

But before I start the chapter I'd also like to say RIP to Alan Rickman. Snape is a beautifully written character and was perfectly brought to life by such a talented actor. He'll be sorely missed.

* * *

 _Gemino_

 _James_

* * *

James sat idly on his chair, doodling on his piece of parchment aimlessly. The whole class was sat waiting for their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Spencer-Harding, to arrive. James couldn't say he had high expectations. The school hadn't been able to hold down a Defence teacher for longer than a year for eons, and as such the offerings were normally poor. He doubted Professor Spencer-Harding would be any different. Especially with a name like that.

Scribbling out his doodling he scrunched up the piece of parchment. Snivellus was three desks directly ahead of him and he reckoned he could get at least one good shot in before the lesson started.

He held his arm outstretched, aiming squarely for the back of Snivellus' grease ball head. Just as he was about to fire, he caught Evans watching him out of the corner of his eye. She looked less than unimpressed and given he'd confiscated her prized transfiguration textbook yesterday it might be wise to play it safe. He sighed and instead chucked it at Sirius next to him who was seemingly asleep on his desk, his head resting on his folded arms. The piece of parchment hit him squarely on the nose and he sat up, scowling.

"What the fuck was that for?"

"You shouldn't be sleeping in class Mr Black," James said loudly, hoping to catch the attention of Evans again. Hopefully she would be convinced that he had aimed to hit Sirius all along. Something told him she wouldn't have as much of a problem with him socking Sirius as opposed to _Snivellus._

Sirius did however have a problem with this. He'd picked up the price of parchment that James had just hit him with and shoved it back in his own face. James just laughed. He'd tell Sirius the real reason why he'd been on his hit-list later.

The door suddenly opened and a man walked in, who James presumed was Professor whatever-his-name. His first impression was that he was dressed ever so strangely. He was wearing what he knew to be a muggle suit. This wasn't _overly_ weird in itself. But the whole thing was constructed out of a patterned sort of tweed, complete with an equally hideous matching waist coat. Looking upwards to his head, James saw the image was completed by a pretentious little bowler hat perched on his head and a rather aristocratic looking moustache. All in all it was a rather peculiar look and James couldn't say he was a fan. It may have been the seventies, but still.

The Professor cleared his throat. "Good morning students, my name is Professor Spencer-Harding and it is an absolute pleasure to meet you. As our cousins across the channel would say, _enchanté!_ "

James snickered. This had to be one of the cheesiest opening lines he'd heard so far, and he'd heard more than a fair few contenders. He glanced at Sirius who was looking equally unimpressed. Sirius had little patience for badly placed French. As a Black he spoke the language fluently. That family clung on to its pretentious French motto like there was no tomorrow.

"I do sincerely apologise that I wasn't able to attend the feast last week. I did endeavour to attend however unfortunately it clashed with another engagement that I had already committed to."

James shared another look with Sirius, wondering where the hell Dumbledore had dug this man up from. He seemed to recall that he was a professor at some pretentious muggle university. He surely had to be a muggle born, not that there was anything wrong with that. But he dressed like a 19th century muggle and spoke as if he were addressing Queen Elizabeth the bloody second.

"To get better acquainted I'd like to propose an ice breaker exercise where we all go around the class and say an interesting fact about your glorious self."

James rolled his eyes. He hated nothing more than fake introductions. Although admittedly it would be fun to hear what his fellow classmates thought was interesting about themselves. Looking at Lucinda Lou who was sat at the desk right at the front, he was struggling to think of anything that was even vaguely worth listening about, let alone interesting in regards to her _glorious self._

"We'll be nice and traditional and start at the top of the alphabet okay chaps?" He picked up the register from the front desk and began to read aloud. "Ayre, Charity."

Charity Ayre, a Ravenclaw student, stood up and began to address the class, sounding more than a tad nervous. James was curious as to what she'd say, Charity was well known for being just as virtuous as her name suggested. Many boys had tried and failed to seduce her over the years for she was actually rather pretty if you could get past the whole prim look she had going on.

"I'm Charity," she started. "My interesting fact is that I am a fully practising Catholic and I started the Roman Catholic Prayer Group during my second year which organises prayers every lunchtime and dinner."

The Roman Catholic Prayer Group? James had nothing against people who were religious but this surely had to take the biscuit. He couldn't imagine having enough spare time to warrant something as dull as organised prayer at every meal-time.

The next person to be called forward would be Sirius, who with the surname Black was always at the top end of alphabetical lists. It was times like this when James was thankful for his surname being in the lower half of the alphabet. He always got to go close to last for most things, which suited him just fine. He was never prepared for anything and it was always helpful to have some extra time to think through exactly just how you were going to wing it.

Sirius nudged him, seemingly having gotten over his rude awakening earlier. "Fancy swapping Prongs?"

This could actually be fairly entertaining, how hadn't they ever done this before? They'd had five new teachers in a row for this class and they'd never thought to play this joke. Well James was certainly game for this. It would be hilarious to see how long they could string poor Professor Spencer-Harding along for. James would be willing to bet they could get away with it for at least a few weeks. Ignoring the despairing look Remus was giving them, he stood up and flashed a grin at the class, daring them to say something. They all remained silent though, even godforsaken Lucinda Lou who loved nothing better than to police the class. However it seemed that for the moment they'd beaten her into submission for the time being. Obviously she'd learnt that it wasn't worth getting in the way.

He paused for a moment, trying to think of something witty to say. After all he rarely had such readily available opportunities to get one up on his best mate.

"I'm Sirius Black and... I currently have a raging hard on for the new Astronomy Teacher."

The class roared with appreciative laughter. James somehow didn't think that had been the sort of interesting fact Professor Spencer-Harding had been looking for when he suggested this exercise. But his reaction was rather gratifying nonetheless. He was staring at James with a horrified look on his face and his mouth hanging open slightly. He'd obviously not been prepared for this kind of behaviour in his class. But James was confident he would learn. And quickly.

James turned to look at Sirius who had let out a low whistle and was leaning back on his chair with a small smirk on his face.

"I'm honoured you noticed Prongs," he said wryly as James sat back down. James clapped him on the back and met Remus' eye. He seemed moderately amused, a small smile playing on his lips. Peter on the other hand was on the edge of his seat, his appreciation much less subtle. But Peter was always much easier to please.

Now back in his seat he watched as Burgess, Daisy was called up followed by Daniels, Chelsea. They were both Hufflepuff's and he couldn't say he cared much about what either of them had to say. Although Chelsea he knew as a fairly decent quidditch player. She'd played seeker for Hufflepuff last year and hadn't been all that bad. She'd certainly been better than their offering, Gilly Douglas, now a 5th year Gryffindor. She had not been good by any stretch of the imagination but hopefully he would pick someone better up this year. It was his first year as captain and he had his eyes firmly set on the cup.

He was drawn back to the class when he heard the next person called up.

"Evans, Lily."

He watched her as she stood up. She'd gotten slightly taller over the summer and this had only made her even more beautiful. Her fire-red hair shone as she absent-mindedly tossed it over her shoulder, her voice loud and crystal clear as she addressed the class. James sighed; why was it the only girl that he'd ever really liked that seemed to hate every word that came out of his mouth? But maybe this year would be different. She was no longer hanging around with Snivellus and that had to make a difference. He had been saying for years that his influence had been rubbing off on her. He'd prejudiced her against him and surely taken great pleasure in doing so.

"I'm Lily Evans, and I once hit a moving target with a jelly legs jinx from 50 metres."

James raised his gaze to see her looking directly at him, her green eyes narrowed ever so slightly. James had to admire her audacity. James himself had been her target on this particular occasion and could testify that it had been a rather impressive shot. Remus and Sirius hadn't let him live it down for weeks.

It was Alice Hall's turn next. She stood up and gave a really boring fact about how she was planning to open a cake shop after she graduated from Hogwarts. That wasn't something new. It was well known that Alice Hall wanted to bake cakes for a living whilst her long term boyfriend Frank wanted to go into the Auror office. James had never tasted Alice's cakes but he thought it was a terrible waste. Alice was terribly clever and very talented with a wand too, and could have aspired to so much more. But he supposed not everyone was cut for such a career. With Voldemort gaining more power every day the life expectancy of new recruits into the Auror Office left a lot to be desired. Well, at least Alice could make a nice cake for the funeral.

Hestia Jones was now standing up and addressing the class. Her interesting fact was about never being to finish things she started. This was true; Hestia was always late in giving in homework and was forever starting things she never got around to finishing. It was a running joke that Hestia had been trying to finish Hogwarts: A History since buying it in Flourish and Blott's the summer before she started at Hogwarts. The latest James had heard was that she'd reached chapter seven: The Tragedy of Rowena Ravenclaw.

Remus would be up soon, but his interesting fact wouldn't be that exciting either. Of course, his _most_ interesting fact would have been much more dramatic, but somehow he didn't think Remus was about to stand up and announce his lycanthropy to his Defence Against the Dark Arts class.

Remus duly stood up and announced that he spent a lot of time out of school due to his mother's ongoing ill health. This drew a few sad sobs from the class, the girls in particular. He had never understood how they all bought this story, but they all seemed to lap it up well enough. Daisy Burgess, even seemed to be on the verge of tears. However that was normal for Daisy who was weepy at the best of times. He recalled an incident last year when she'd burst randomly into tears when Professor McGonagall had demonstrated her animagus transformation. When asked why she had sobbed that she was overcome by "the beauty of magic." This hadn't made any sense to them but Marlene McKinnon had informed them at the time that Daisy had been ' _hormonal'_. He didn't really know what that meant but had understood enough to know that he wasn't inclined to find out more.

McDonald was now speaking but James wasn't really paying attention. Mary was as vapid and self-absorbed as they came. Her interesting fact was just as superficial; Mary's life ambition was to write the gossip column for Witch Weekly. To be fair she'd probably be fairly good at that. Mary excelled in making up and spreading mean rumours about anyone and everyone.

"McKinnon, Marlene," Spencer-Harding said, looking around the class.

James saw Marlene flash a smile in his direction but he knew it wasn't aimed for him. He got on with Marlene, and knew her fairly well having been a fellow chaser with her on the Gryffindor team for the last three years. But it was Sirius who she really got on with. They were good friends and always had been. They had similar interests, mainly their shared love of the opposite sex. It was no wonder Emmeline was looking a little bit wary as Marlene's eyes left Sirius. She didn't have anything to worry about but he supposed he couldn't blame Emmeline for thinking otherwise.

"I'm Marlene McKinnon, and I once got the Gryffindor quidditch team disqualified for accidentally catching the snitch when it flew down my robes."

James smiled; that brought back nostalgic memories. The captain at the time, Rachael Coates had not been at all impressed. It had been a critical game against Hufflepuff and definitely a factor in why they had lost the cup that year. James had thought Coates had overreacted at the time but now he was captain he kind of understood where she had been coming from.

The Slytherin dimwit Mulciber followed Marlene. James couldn't even understand what his interesting fact had been. It was somewhat hard to follow given he conversed almost entirely with grunts.

James went back to doodling on his piece of parchment. This class was growing more tedious by the minute. If he and Sirius hadn't shaken it up a bit then it would have been a complete write off. But Sirius would be up soon, Packard, Richard had just been called. James looked over at Sirius who was smirking to himself. He'd obviously thought up something good. He always knew there was a benefit to being later in the alphabet.

"Potter, James."

James winced as Sirius stood up, a broad smile on his face as he turned to address the class. His gaze was focused directly on Lily Evans, who didn't seem to be appreciating this newly bestowed attention. James took a deep breath, he could see where this was going.

"I'm James Potter, and I fell in love at first sight," Sirius said as Professor Spencer-Harding nodded along. "I've been in love with Lily Evans since I ever spied her getting changed on the Hogwarts Express six years ago. Seeing her virginal white knickers that day lit a burning fire deep within my loins and I swore that someday, somehow I would own that pair of knickers."

James bit down on the inside of his cheek. He'd played the game and on this occasion he had lost with rather significant consequences. He swivelled round and saw his fears were confirmed. Lily was looking absolutely horrified, sheer shock etched on her face. James sighed, she may be shocked now but this would soon turn to anger. Lily's emotions existed on a very short spectrum; she could go from serene calm to inexplicable rage within a matter of seconds. It was one of the reasons he loved her, she was forever unpredictable.

"So last year I set to work on obtaining my grand prize," Sirius continued. "It was a beautiful day in mid Ma-"

"You don't need to make a speech Mr Black," Spencer-Harding interrupted, his expression almost as traumatised as Lily's.

But Sirius wasn't finished. "As I was saying. It was a beautiful day in mid-May and I was stalking Lily as she took a swim in the lake. It was then that she had left her dry clothes unguarded on the shore. I quickly stole her knickers and stashed them in my dormitory where they have remained unwashed ever since. Every night before I go to bed I take them out and stroke them as I also stroke my-"

"Enough!"

Professor Spencer-Harding had jumped to his feet and had placed two hands on Sirius' shoulders pushing him back down into his seat rather forcefully. Sirius seemed rather pleased with the reaction he had got. He was leaning back in his chair beaming at a glowering Lily.

"I think that's enough for today," Spencer-Harding said, mopping his slightly sweaty forehead with the back of his hand. "Next class we will start on the advantages of nonverbal magic in defensive situations."

The class began to pack up, most of them looking relieved that the class was finally over. Although James was pleased to see that at least a few of his fellow classmates were talking about his and Sirius' little joke. Even though Sirius's suggestion of swapping had rather spectacularly backfired it on him, at least people had been appreciative. Well some people had been. Lily had shot both him and Sirius a dirty look and stalked out of the room with Alice Hall and Mary McDonald.

James watched as Snape followed after her, his greased up face also bearing a somewhat menacing expression. That was another bone he had to pick with Sirius. His dramatic speech had deprived them all of hearing from what Snivellus had to tell them about himself. Now, _that_ would have been entertaining.

They were almost at the door when he heard a voice behind him.

"Potter," Professor Spencer-Harding looked at Sirius. "And Black," he continued, looking at James.

They both turned to face him, trying their best to suppress grins. It looked like his second detention of term was coming. James was almost pleased; it would be the first detention of the year he'd have with Sirius and they were always entertaining.

"Yes sir," they said as solemnly, their expressions blank. He must have known they were mocking him for his expression hardened.

"A word with you both if I may."

James wasn't sure if this was a question, but he sorely resisted the urge to reply no. He met Remus' eye who were hanging back with Peter in the doorway. They'd know better than to wait for them. This teacher was unchartered ground and new teachers tended to drag things out. McGonagall was an expert in cutting to the chase when it came to giving out detention, but it was more likely with Professor Spencer-Harding they would be in for a long arduous lecture. But not to worry, he'd soon give up on them both like the rest of the teachers.

James and Sirius sat back down and looked up at Professor Spencer-Harding expectantly. They'd heard the spiel enough times for them to both know exactly what he would say. So far he was saying the usual. Bad example, inappropriate language, insensitivity to fellow classmates, disruptive influence etc. etc. etc. He continued in this fashion for at least five minutes which was incredibly tedious. Especially as he hadn't even said anything they hadn't heard before. McGonagall was at least creative with her words when she got really pissed at them. James and Sirius had both been called some rather colourful things in their time.

He came to a halt, somewhat out of breath and red in the face. He needed to get better at this if he was going to make it at Hogwarts. This was a tame misdemeanour by their standards.

He'd picked up a piece of paper from inside his folder and was now reading it intently. A fine crease appeared between his eyes as he scanned the page. James had no idea what he was reading but he seemed to be studying it rather intently.

"I'll just get my diary and then I'll book you both in for detention."

James grinned. God this guy was an amateur. He'd never had a teacher have to check their diary to hand out detention. Spencer-Harding left the room, disappearing into a side room which James presumed was his office. When the door was firmly shut behind him he turned to Sirius.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

James nodded. They had both seen him leave the piece of paper he'd been reading on the desk. He had tucked it back into his folder but it wouldn't take long to locate. He stood up and with a quick glance at the door he darted over to the desk. He picked up the folder and gave it a good shake causing the loose piece of parchment to flutter silently onto the desk.

"Gemino."

The paper instantly duplicated and James folded it up and stuffed it inside his robes. He had just made it back to his desk when the door opened again. Professor Spencer-Harding was back and was clutching a rather formal looking moleskin diary and a large feathered quill.

"I'll see you 7pm on Friday," he said scribbling in his moleskin diary. Sirius and James shrugged and stood up to leave. James hadn't had a chance to examine the piece of paper he'd copied. But whatever it was it seemed to have been a factor in giving them detention and he was curious to find out why.

They headed out of the classroom, leaving Professor Spencer-Harding with his moleskin diary and ridiculous bowler hat. As soon as they were out of earshot they turned to each other.

"Shall we look now or wait for Gryffindor Tower?" James asked. It was an unspoken rule that any finds like this should be viewed as a team. However it was a long walk to the Tower and he was intrigued.

"Nah, let's look now," Sirius replied, making a grab for James' bag. His hand had just made contact with the fabric when Filch appeared in front of them. He didn't look happy.

"You two, I know you've been setting off dungbombs outside the Hospital Wing."

James rolled his eyes. Filch accusing them of crimes they hadn't committed was almost as common as him accusing them of things they had.

Sirius stepped forward. "You've just watched us walk out of Defence class, if you think we could have made it to the Hospital Wing and back in five minutes to set off a dungbomb then I'd be readily admitting we did it."

This seemed to confuse Filch for he paused and his grip visibly tightening around his broom handle.

"Prove it," he hissed, his yellow eyes bulging in their sockets.

Sirius shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Whatever, ask McGonagall if you want to see our schedules."

This seemed to placate him for he turned around and shuffled back down the corridor, muttering slightly to himself as he went.

"Nicely deflected Padfoot," James said clapping Sirius on the back. "But we'd better get up to the Tower. Not worth sticking around with Filch prowling around."

Sirius nodded and they made their way up to the tower taking their care to avoid Filch. The last thing they wanted was for him to stop and search them. That had been the reason they'd had to enchant the map to remain blank until activated. Otherwise Filch would have had it off them in a heartbeat. Despite this, Filch had still grown suspicious. He had seen them enough times with the map to know that it wasn't just an ordinary piece of parchment and he wouldn't hesitate confiscating it.

* * *

They found Remus and Peter in the common room, relaxing in front of the fire.

"Detention?" Remus asked, stretching out his hands towards the crackling flames. "That was an amusing joke you played on him."

James nodded happily as he sat down next to Peter, his hand already clasped around the piece of parchment currently residing in his robes pocket. "Totally worth it, although I will be murdering Padfoot tonight."

Sirius just grinned. "You asked for it mate."

Perhaps this was true. James had started the joke by announcing to the class that Sirius wanted to fuck Professor Sinistra, but that had hardly been a secret. Not that him fancying Lily wasn't well known either, but it was a helluva lot more personal. But whatever, he'd find a way to get Sirius back in time.

"Anyway," James changed the subject, spreading out the piece of parchment on the table in front of them. "Let's have a look at this."

"What's that?" Remus said, his fingers tracing the first line of the piece of parchment. "It looks like a list of all of our names."

James scanned the page. Remus was right; it was a list of all of their names, but that wasn't all it was. Next to each name were scrawled comments about the individual. He scanned down the list, Sirius was up first.

" _Sirius Black_ ," James read aloud as the others crowded round. _"Incredibly bright but a known trouble maker with no regard for rules or common decency. Difficult childhood has led to anarchistic tendencies and a reckless attitude."_

Sirius snorted next to him. "That sounds about right."

Remus stared at them, his eyes moving rapidly down the page. "Where on earth did you get this?"

"Gemino'd a copy of his desk when he went to fetch his diary."

"What does it say about me?" Remus wondered seemingly aloud as they all read further down the page.

" _Remus Lupin,"_ he read. " _Bright and applies himself diligently to tasks set. However moves in a bad crowd and on occasion can succumb to their poor influences."_

James laughed, this was certainly true. Remus would have been an absolutely perfect student if he hadn't made friends with them all these years ago. He was proud to say that he and Sirius were a bad influence on him. However Remus was also laughing, seemingly amused at the observation that he moved in a 'bad crowd'. He wondered where Spencer-Harding had got this information from. This sounded like it had come straight out of McGonagall's mouth.

Looking now at the bottom of the page he found his own name.

" _Similarly to Black, Potter is very clever, however does not apply himself. Can demonstrate an over inflated sense of his own importance and likes to be the centre of attention."_

"Sure I do!" James said as the others chuckled. "That's the only reason I bother to turn up."

"What does it say about me?" Peter said as he craned his neck trying to read the small scrawled handwriting next to his name.

James pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose and squinted at the piece of parchment. However this time he didn't read aloud. _Peter Pettigrew- Hero-worships Black and Potter. Not at all in their league in terms of talent or ability. Needs encouragement and time to grasp concepts._

James shot a worried look at Sirius. He hadn't even considered what it would have said about Peter. He looked round, hoping that Peter hadn't been able to read what was on the page. But it seemed that he had. He had sunk back down into his seat, a sad and disappointed look on his face. Remus had also let out a sigh; this hadn't been the way that any of them had intended this bit of fun to end.

"Anyone fancy a game of exploding snap?" James said, trying to pretend that he hadn't read Peter's entry.

Remus nodded, and drew out a pack of playing cards from his pocket. They all sat in silence as he dealt them out. James scrunched the piece of parchment and tossed it into his bag. He had no desire to read what the rest of it said now.

* * *

A/N I hope you liked- put a smile on my face and click the review button below even if just to say a few words! I'm also afraid the story updates may be a little slower as I'm having to do more substantial editing to what I have already written, and I start a new job next week! So less time daydreaming about what I'm going to write in my next chapter...


	9. Lunar Eclipse

A/N I really apologise for how long this has taken to publish! I've gone through a rather painful break up with my long term boyfriend and it has taken me a while to be in the mood to write. However I am back now and hopefully weekly updates should be recommencing!

* * *

 _Lunar Eclipse_

 _Peter_

"Hurry up Wormtail," Sirius' voice called from halfway down the corridor.

Peter was trying his best to keep up but he had neither the stamina nor the fitness of the other three. Or as last night had reminded him, the talent. But he was running as fast as he could, desperately trying to keep pace. He'd never been fit and likely never would be. In fact his legs could only really be described as short and stumpy, especially when compared to James and Sirius, both of whom had shot up yet again over the summer. Looking down at his stocky body Peter felt more than a little bit envious. James and Remus were both fairly tall, and Sirius was already pushing 6ft. Peter would be lucky to make it past five foot and a half. Pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind he plodded on, following Remus' sandy blonde hair as he ducked under a tapestry of a 16th century warlock. Peter couldn't remember the warlock's name but he was sure he was famous for having domesticated a centaur. Or something like that.

"We'll miss the eclipse!" Sirius shouted back at no-one in particular. Even from this far behind Peter could see Remus' disparaging shake of his head. He knew Remus disapproved. Not of the fact that they were going to Astronomy Club, more of the reasons why they were going. He knew Remus' theory; that Sirius had only become interested because Professor Sinistra was rather attractive, and he knew Sirius well enough to know that it was probably true. Sirius had barely even bothered to turn up to mandatory let alone voluntary classes when it had been Professor Clanger teaching the subject.

Turning round a corner he saw that his three friends were waiting for him at the foot of the Astronomy Tower. Panting, he jogged up to them, now close enough to hear what they were saying.

"Are you sure you wouldn't have rather gone on an illicit trip to Honeydukes?" James was saying, looking at Sirius with a rather curious look on his face.

"We can go to Honeydukes anytime," Sirius replied smoothly. "And we might not see another eclipse in our lifetimes!"

"You do know this is only a partial eclipse, which are actually fairly common?" Remus replied, looking entirely bored with the topic.

"Still, it could be the only eclipse which we see at school," Sirius replied, obviously not really listening.

"There have been nine eclipses since we arrived at school Padfoot, and there is a total eclipse next October. You would know this if you had occasionally bothered to look at your lunar chart."

"Well sorry if I'm not as well attuned to the movements of the moon as you are Moony," Sirius said carelessly, not noticing the look on Remus' face.

"So what is Professor Sinistra like then?" Peter quickly added, changing the subject.

"Oh she's alright," Sirius said smirking.

"Is she as pretty up close?" Peter asked.

"Depends how pretty you think she is from a distance," Sirius said dismissively, as they finally reached the top of the spiral staircase. There was a group of students waiting by the door, so they couldn't have missed it after all. Peter was grateful for that, Sirius would have made jibes for days if his pudginess had made them late for the eclipse.

Taking a closer look at the crowd that was gathered there it occurred to Peter that it was a rather peculiar mix of people. There were the usual bookworms and odd prefect that you'd expect but there was also a disproportionate number of young men. Peter noticed Blake Porpington in the corner conversing with Robin Saunders, one of the 7th year chasers for Hufflepuff. He couldn't hear what they were saying over the crowd but judging from the rude hand gestures Porpington was making Peter thought he could have made an educated guess. Evidently Sirius wasn't the only male who thought Professor Sinistra worth scaling the Astronomy Tower at 7pm on a Saturday evening.

After a few minutes the door opened and the students began to file in through the large oak doorway. It had been a while since any of them, aside from Sirius, had been up here and they habitually moved to take the spots in the corner, where they had generally escaped the peripheral vision of Professor Clanger. However Sirius wasn't having this. Grabbing James by the arm he jostled his way to the front, almost toppling some poor bespectacled third year who bore more than a passing resemblance to Moaning Myrtle in the process. She promptly dropped the telescope she had been holding and turned to stare at James, seemingly awe-struck. Peter exhaled sadly; girls never looked at him like that and never would. Looks such as that were reserved for those who excelled on a broomstick. Not fat un-attractive lumps like Peter.

"Evening Potter," a voice said from next to James. His tone sounded unpleasant and Peter wondered if he had been the victim of some prank that he'd long forgotten. After all, aside from the few really memorable ones, most of which involved Snivellus, they did start to blur together somewhat.

James swivelled round, and he obviously recognised the boy who had spoken for his expression hardened ever so slightly, not that anyone external to the Marauders would have noticed.

"Evening Aubrey," James replied casually, although not before casting a sideways glance at Sirius who grinned rather unsubtly back. It then struck Peter who the boy was: he was Bertram Aubrey, a boy who had picked a fight with James last Christmas. Last time he'd seen him his head had been about three times its intended size; he hadn't recognised him with a normal sized one.

"What was it they hexed him for again?" Peter nudged Remus next to him.

"Prongs made out with his girlfriend at Slughorn's Christmas party. How can you not remember that?" Remus muttered back, his disapproval audible.

"Who was she again? Was that Lorraine Edgecombe?"

"No, that was the year before. Her name was Cleo, Cleo Fox. 5th year Ravenclaw now."

Peter had a vague recollection of her, but didn't think he had spoken more than a few words to the girl.

"So, what are you lot here for? I thought you normally had detentions on weekends." It was Aubrey that had spoken and he was making no attempt to hide his obvious distaste for them. Peter thought fleetingly how unfair this was, he and Remus had never been nothing but pleasant to Bertram Aubrey. But that was the price you paid to be best friends with James and Sirius, and it was certainly worth it. Peter wouldn't change his friends for the world. They were by far the most popular boys in the year, and Peter took immense pride and satisfaction in the association.

"I've been here the past two weeks," said Sirius indignantly.

"Oh have you? Hadn't noticed you without your boyfriends I'm afraid."

Sirius just smiled at him, it was a poor insult at best and one they'd all heard many times before.

"Well," Sirius said loudly, still smirking. "You know they are very loyal to me, and loyalty is a quality I very much seek out in all my lovers."

A few people around them sniggered at this rather thinly veiled dig. It seemed Peter was in a minority and that most other people had indeed remembered that James Potter had snogged Bertram Aubrey's girlfriend at Slughorn's Christmas party last year. Thankfully, Professor Sinistra finally decided to start the session and Bertram Aubrey didn't get a chance to retaliate. It was probably for the best as he was glaring at Sirius and James as if looks could kill.

"Welcome back to Astronomy Club," she said in a low, almost sultry tone, with a hint of some foreign accent Peter couldn't quite put his finger on. Peter thought she was just as attractive up close as she had been at the feast. She had skin the colour of copper and a long dark braid that fell to the small of her back. Her robes were blood orange and appeared to be made of pure silk. They didn't look at all suited to the Scottish autumnal weather but she didn't seem to mind. Overall Peter thought her quite exotic looking.

"It's nice to see some new faces here today," she added her dark eyes resting on James, Remus and Peter for a few moments before shooting a curious glance at Sirius who just raised an eyebrow.

The class nodded in agreement, and Peter noticed that several of the boys were sitting on the edge of their seats hanging on to her every word. Turning round to look at Sirius, he saw he was lounging on his chair, with no hint whatsoever that he found the woman standing in front of him attractive. That was Sirius' way though- he barely ever let on when he fancied someone. Maybe that was the secret Peter thought. Maybe he was too forward, too obvious with girls. But then again maybe it was just the fact he was less attractive, less clever and less popular than all three of his best friends. Sometimes when he was feeling particularly low he wondered why they had even allowed him to be part of their group.

"Now, the eclipse is due to start in approximately 6 minutes. I would like you to chart the passage of the moon, bearing particular attention to the degree of the eclipse and also the speed and trajectory of the moon. However please make sure you pick up a pair of glasses from the front before you start, as you should never stare directly at the sun."

"Rather the sun than the moon," Remus muttered darkly. He'd never cared for Astronomy for obvious reasons.

"Surely it's good for you because the sun is going to eclipse the moon?" Peter piped up, hoping to cheer Remus up a bit. He had a feeling he was still a little disgruntled from Sirius' rather flippant comment earlier. Sirius meant well, at least most of the time, but could be rather tactless sometimes, especially with Remus.

"You idiot," James said with apparent disbelief. "The sun is behind the fucking moon Peter. The sun is like a billion miles away. If it was between us and the moon we would be watching the apocalypse not this bore of an eclipse."

"Shut up Prongs," Sirius butted in "Don't lie. This is the most fun you've had since Lily told you off at you at the feast for reading Playboy."

James gave Sirius a not so playful shove and got up to retrieve four pairs of UV glasses from the front. The eclipse itself passed without much excitement. Peter had not seen an eclipse before but he had been expecting something a bit more dramatic. But he supposed that wasn't really why they were here. Turning round to look at Sirius he was reminded of the real reason they were here. Sirius' grey eyes were following Professor Sinistra as she moved amongst the students in the observatory. She had paused to look at Robin Saunders' chart, making a few amendments with a quill that was decorated with the feather of some brightly coloured exotic bird. Maybe he would ask for a nice quill for Christmas. He was forever losing them and maybe a bright rainbow coloured one would be harder to lose. Or lend to James and never get back.

Professor Sinistra was now looking over Remus' shoulder at his charting of the eclipse. She seemed impressed with his work, and turned to look at Peter's. The angles looked slightly different from Remus' and his calculations had also come out with different numbers. Peter sighed, he knew there was a reason he had dropped this subject after O.W.L. Remus on the other hand had been the best of the lot of them, however had also dropped the subject as soon as possible not being all that fond of the night's sky.

Sinistra was now leaning over looking at Sirius' work, her long dark braid slung over her shoulder as she examined his chart. Sirius was leaning back on his chair, with a small smile on his face, obviously enjoying the rather close presence of Sinistra. Flashing a smirk at James he shifted his weight forward and brought his chair back onto all four legs with a clang. Sinistra just smiled and raised an eyebrow before moving on to the third year reincarnation of Moaning Myrtle.

It seemed that the rather unfortunate bespectacled girl was the last to receive feedback, for Professor Sinistra then stood up to wrap up the session.

"Some lovely work today, I hope you enjoyed the session as much as I did. It's nice to see the sun occasionally," she laughed, her dark eyes lighting up. "Well I will see you all next week at midnight, where we will be doing some lovely observations on the passage of Jupiter's moons. Those looking to prepare for the session I would advise that you do some research on all of Jupiter's moons, especially on how to identify them."

And with that the class began to file out. Trying their best to avoid Bertram Aubrey who was hanging back to speak to one of the other Ravenclaw boys he'd arrived with, they shuffled out of the room.

"Where's Padfoot?" asked James suddenly, realising his partner in crime was notably absent.

"He hung back to speak with Sinistra," Remus replied, sounding more than a little bit disinterested.

"Should we leave him to it?" James asked, shooting a glance at the now closed door.

"Probably best," shrugged Remus carelessly. "We don't know how long he is going to be given how dedicated he is to the study of Astronomy. Besides, I could kill for some food right now. Kitchens anyone?"

And with that the three of them nodded in agreement and trooped back down the stairs, leaving Sirius behind. Peter wondered what they were talking about, surely Sirius couldn't feign that much of an interest in the subject. Although Sirius was good at talking to women, he was a natural charmer when he wanted to be and he knew it. Peter wouldn't have had a clue what to say, but then again he never did. Talking to women was not something he was very good at, but one day he was sure he would find a girl who didn't mind that he was short, a little bit rotund and not a straight O student. After all, he was part of the Marauders, and that surely had to count for something.

And with those happy thoughts Peter fell in step next to Remus and James, safe in the knowledge that whatever happened he would always have the very best of friends.


	10. Me and Prongs?

A/N Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and favourited- it really means a lot! This is one of my favourite chapters so far so I hope you enjoy.

* * *

 _ **Me and Prongs?**_

 _ **Lily**_

* * *

It was just after five thirty when Lily rose from her bed. The winter sun was streaming through the curtains, and the grounds were covered in a white sprinkling of snow but her mind was firmly on her Transfiguration textbook which had so unceremoniously been stolen the week before. All her notes had been in that textbook, the textbook that now resided in Potter's of all people's dormitory. Normally she wouldn't have cared about something as minor as doing badly on a start of term test, but the fact it was Potter who was the cause was reason enough for concern. Not to mention the fact that she really needed McGonagall to give her good predicted grades for the St Mungo's placement she wanted next summer. Whilst Lily generally liked the head of Gryffindor house, she didn't fancy her chances of persuading McGonagall to predict her an O if she got a D on the start of term paper.

Putting on her dressing gown and slippers she quietly made her away across the dormitory, and down the stairs to the common room. It was deserted at this time in the morning, although she was sure she had caught a glimpse of a house elf darting out of the portrait hole.

Gathering her courage, she slowly but purposefully made her way up to the boys' dormitories. Unlike some of her roommates, Lily had never been up there before, and was unsure whose room belonged to what year. After peeking her head around a few doors, she finally found the one she was looking for.

The dormitory was identical to the girls except the windows faced out over the quidditch pitch rather than towards Hogsmeade. No doubt that suited Potter just fine. Trying to be as quiet as possible she crept further into the room. She needed to find out which bed was Potter's. She imagined, or at least hoped that he would have simply tossed the book onto the floor next to his bed or maybe onto the bedside cabinet. But even she knew this was a long shot; knowing Potter the book could be anywhere. It could be halfway up the Astronomy Tower for all she knew.

The bed nearest the door wasn't Potter's. As she got closer she could make out the form of Peter Pettigrew, whose silhouette was just visible in the early morning light. He was curled up in the foetal position and every so often was snoring rather loudly. Silently praying that the one next to Pettigrew would be Potter Lily edged further into the dormitory, trying her best to dodge God knows what was on the floor. She passed what was unmistakably Remus Lupin in the next bed along, and moved further towards the window.

The boy in the next bed was lying on his front with his head almost completely under his pillow. Lily thought she could make out dark hair, but that still only told her that it wasn't Remus or Peter which she knew already. When a tremendous snore erupted from the bed behind her Lily quickly decided a 50:50 chance though was good enough. She stooped down and started going through the things on the bedside table: she found a wand, some chocolate frogs and a rather battered charms book, upon which a watch that looked like it cost more than a few galleons was precariously balanced. But that didn't narrow it down. Both Potter and Black took Charms, both liked chocolate and both had parents who were loaded. Lily picked up the wand and turned it over in her hand. More dedicated admirers of these boys would have been able to identify the wands, but Lily didn't know where to start.

Realising she had been standing there for a rather longer than she intended she moved on, hoping to get a look at the final remaining bed. The last bed was also occupied by someone with dark hair, hair that was distinctively messier than his neighbour. This had to be Potter. His hair looked like he had just got off a broomstick at the best of times, no doubt his bed hair would be just as bad. She edged closer to the bed, rummaging through all the junk that littered the floor. Picking up what looked like a scrap of old parchment off the floor, she finally saw it: _Transfiguration: Grade 6._ Chuckling at the thought of Potter waking up and realising that his grand prize was gone, she bent down to pick it up. She would take it and get out of there.

"Morning Evans," a voice said sleepily from the bed next to her.

Lily must have jumped two feet in the air. Grabbing both the piece of parchment and the book she swivelled round to see Black propped up on one arm surveying her with his piercing grey eyes.

"Erm…" Lily couldn't find the words she wanted to say. She was trying not to look, but she couldn't help but notice that Black was shirtless, and his hair was falling effortlessly into his admittedly handsome grey eyes.

"Here to fuck Prongs?" Black asked casually, as if it was completely normal to wake up to find random girls in his dormitory. I suppose maybe it was normal for them Lily thought, after all Black and Potter were never short of female attention. Trying to push that horrible image out of her head, she looked back at Sirius who was still staring at her with a smirk on his face.

"No, of course not. I'm not that sort of girl Black."

"You don't have to go all the way" Black replied sardonically, still smirking "I'm sure James wouldn't mind."

"You make me sick," Lily retorted. "I'm not here to do anything with Potter."

"Me then?"

"Funnily enough Black, the answer is still no."

"Me and Prongs?" Black said sweetly, obviously taking great pleasure in winding her up.

Lily again found herself lost for words, only managing to stare at Black with what she hoped was a look of uttermost disgust.

"What about Remus then?" Black continued. "I heard a rumour that two prefects can get married at Hogwarts for free. Not sure that it's true though, it was Moaning Myrtle than told me that…"

Deliberating ignoring him, she continued to make her way towards the door.

"What about Peter then? Uncommon choice, but we cater to all sorts of fetishes."

Unable to take it any-more she turned round on her heel to face him.

"I am not here to fuck Potter. I am not here to fuck Remus. I am not here to fuck Pettigrew, and I most certainly am not here to fuck you. I was merely retrieving something that is rightfully mine. Good day Black, see you in Transfiguration."

"As you wish Evans," Black said pleasantly as if they'd been discussing the weather. "If you change your mind you know where we live."

Swishing her hair behind her she stormed out of the room, Black's derisive laughter ringing in her ears.

* * *

"Questions are on the board. You have 20 minutes to complete them and hand your paper in at the front," McGonagall was saying, her wand illuminating a series of ten questions on the board.

A murmur of discontent rippled across the class. Not many of them had prepared adequately for this test. It was too early for people to really focus on schoolwork; there was simply too much going on with the hustle and bustle of the new term. And Gryffindor's quidditch trials were next week which hadn't helped with all the last minute practice everyone had been doing. Mary was hoping to make the team this year; she'd been a reserve last year but had never been called up to play a match. However, Mary'd cottoned on to the fact that Marlene met so many handsome athletic men through her position as chaser and this year she was determined to make the team. Looking over at Mary now, she looked anxious as her lips silently mouthed the first question. She obviously didn't know the answers. But then she wouldn't have done. Between her obsession with Tom Barnes and her quidditch practice, she hadn't even picked up a book since they'd arrived at school.

But of course Lily had studied; in fact she'd even had time to go over the notes from the textbook she had gone to considerable lengths to steal back this morning. It had been worth it though. Not only to get the book back, which had been invaluable in memorising the principles of Gamp's Law, but to get back at Potter. She had revelled in the excitement of stealing it back, and had taken equal pleasure from the almost forlorn look on his face at breakfast this morning. Not to mention Black's black eye. She'd assumed it had been Potter that had done it, presumably for allowing her to take back his prize.

She turned her attention to question one: _How was Gamp said to have discovered the 1st principle of his Law?_ She knew the answer to this one, she'd read it over in her textbook just this morning and it was probably the reason McGonagall had set them the task of conjuring an apple last week. Gamp was rumoured to have theorised his law when he'd been sitting under an apple tree. After picking all the ripe apples from the tree, he'd realised he wanted more. So he drew out his wand and conjured up an apple. However, as Black had found out to his hilarious humiliation last week, his version was inedible despite having the exact same appearance and texture of the apples he'd just plucked from the tree. Lily doubted whether this story was true; it bore far too much resemblance to the muggle legend of Isaac Newton and his discovery of gravity. Undoubtedly there had been some cross contamination there with those stories, but she supposed that was inevitable prior to and around the implementation of the Statute of Secrecy. Both Gamp and Newton had lived during that period, and obviously there had been some overlap in their academic circles. Or maybe people of that period had just really liked apples.

She went onto the next question, which she also knew the answer to: "What was the contemporary scholarly reaction to Gamp's Law?"

So far, the test was going well; there was nothing here that Lily felt she would struggle with. Hopefully she would get that O she needed on this test, and also on the essay that she had handed in at the start of class. Lily still wasn't sure that she wanted to do when she finished school, but a career as a healer did appeal to her. She needed to do something to help the war effort, and given her skills in potions, healing could enable her to do that. But it was a long way off yet, and she hoped to get some experience at Mungo's over the summer. That would be helpful in making her decision.

"Lily, can you help me with number one?" Mary asked, her expression anxious. Lily sighed, she was a prefect and Mary deserved to do badly having not even having bothered to read the chapter on Gamp, but she couldn't downright refuse to help a friend.

"Tried to conjure an apple," she whispered back.

Mary mouthed what looked like 'thank-you' back at her and started scribbling on her parchment. She supposed that even that small hint she had given her wouldn't get her great marks, so at least her hard work would pay off.

"Oi Evans," a voice came from behind her. Turning round in her chair she saw it was Potter. He was leaning forward over his desk, his glasses slightly lopsided. Judging by his scroll of parchment he had already finished the test. She sighed inwardly; it was so unfair that an arrogant bully such as Potter also had to be clever. Just another reminder that the world wasn't fair; something Sev used to remind her of often. She glanced over at where he currently sat with Mulciber. Severus' eyes were focused on what looked like his 3rd ream of parchment, and his hand was writing furiously. He didn't look in her direction. He never did nowadays.

"Evans," James repeated, throwing a scrunched up piece of parchment at her.

"What do you want?" she hissed back.

"Got a spare piece of parchment?" he asked, pointing at his empty desk.

Given the fact he had just thrown a piece of parchment at her, Lily wasn't buying this. She didn't know what he wanted, but it certainly wasn't a piece of parchment to write on. She smoothed out the scrunched up piece he'd chucked at her and passed it back to him, daring him to object. He didn't, but obviously realised the flaw in his plan. He ran a hand through his already messy hair and sighed. Black and Lupin had obviously noticed his rather glaring mistake for they both appeared amused. Black especially, as his fingers moved gingerly to his still swollen eye.

"That one is erm…" James trailed off. "Too new. I need an older piece."

"Why?" Lily replied, playing along. She wanted to know what he was up to.

"I erm prefer old pieces, quill writes better on them."

That was pathetic and even James seemed to realise this. He was grinning sheepishly at Remus who was shaking his head with amusement.

"I'll let you know if I find a suitable piece then," Lily answered, turning back to her test. She was on the last question now, and with only five minutes left she'd better get a move on. As she finished up her answer, she remembered the surplus piece of parchment she had taken accidentally alongside her book this morning. Maybe it hadn't been just an old ragged piece of parchment after all. Making a mental note to take a closer look at it when she got back, she rolled up her test and took it up to McGonagall's desk. Most people were beginning to finish now, as the time on the clock began to run out. She chanced a look at Severus as she walked past his desk, but he was staring deliberately in the other direction, engaged in hushed conversation with Rosier and Mulciber.

"Time is up," McGonagall announced. With a flick of her wand the remaining pieces of parchment flew to the front of the class, stacking themselves neatly on the existing pile.

"I will mark these for next class. In the meantime, I want you all to work on a presentation for next week. I will divide you into pairs and delegate a topic to each group."

Lily sighed. She hated group work. She always ended up with the worst partners. Knowing her luck she would get Potter. Glancing behind her, she saw him grinning at Peter. No doubt they were both hoping for good looking female partners.

"Black and McDonald. Gamp's theory of materiality," McGonagall started to read from the list. She saw Sirius scowl at James, he made no secret of his lack of regard for Mary. She didn't seem as bothered though, no doubt she thought she could have done a lot worse. Which Lily supposed was true. Even she would rather have got Black than someone like Avery or Rosier. Marginally at least.

"Lupin and Burgess. Non-verbal incantations." Daisy Burgess was a quiet Hufflepuff girl with round spectacles and a dimpled chin. She was rather quiet and unassuming and Lily couldn't recall the girl having said more than two words during class. She looked pleased enough. Remus was as good a partner as you could hope for. Studious and clever, he'd pull more than his weight in any assignment.

"Pettigrew and Ayre."

Peter seemed disappointed with his choice of partner. Charity Ayre was a nice enough Ravenclaw girl, but it was well known that she was a prim and proper sort of girl. She made no secret of her plans to save her virginity until marriage, and Lily had even heard rumours of her planning to join a Swiss convent. Peter wouldn't have had a chance with many girls, but his chances with Charity Ayre were pretty much a guaranteed zilch.

McGonagall continued down the list. "Potter and…" Lily held her breath. Please don't let it be her. _Please don't let it be her_.

"Mulciber. The importance of the correct wand movement." McGonagall finished, giving James a stern look. This was obviously punishment for his misdemeanours in her last class. James had slumped back into his seat, giving McGonagall a rather dirty look as he scowled. Lily couldn't say she blamed him; no-one wanted to be paired with Mulciber. Not only was he violent and thuggish, he was also unbelievably thick. But she would also be lying if she said she didn't take any pleasure in the fact he'd been paired with Potter. It was no less than he deserved.

"Snape and Evans. Transformation of sentient beings," McGonagall continued. It took a while for the effect of these words to sink it. She'd been paired with Snape. With Sev. A year ago this would wouldn't have been problematic, it would have been welcomed even. But now everything was different. She glanced over again at the Slytherin desks. Severus' eyes were on the table, his dark eyes unfathomable. She wondered if he felt as she did. But she'd probably never find out. Severus didn't share those things with her anymore, and she doubted he ever would.

McGonagall resumed her reading of the list, handing out the remaining topics. Marlene had been paired with Tom Barnes much to Mary's disgust. Not that Marlene would touch him, she never got involved with people who were already attached. As she put it, it just wasn't worth the hassle. Having seen it first-hand Lily had to agree; indeed, hell did hath no fury like a woman scorned. In fact, Mary often saw to that herself. Lily recalled a rather awkward event last year back when she'd been dating Liam Pettyfer. He'd decided he'd rather date Caroline Rowland, so Mary had tipped a glass of pumpkin juice down her top at dinner. Liam Pettyfer of course had remained unharmed throughout this whole encounter, which always seemed to be the way.

McGonagall dismissed the class and they all filed out. Lily tried to avoid eye contact, just wanting to get back to the dormitory and sit quietly by herself. She didn't want to think about her assignment with Severus, or listen to Mary's loud protests about her boyfriend being partnered with Marlene. No, she would have a good look at that piece of parchment that Potter wanted so badly.

Reaching the solitude of her dormitory, she picked up the piece of parchment from where she'd left it on the bedside table. At first glance it appeared as just as an old piece of ragged parchment, in fact she had almost thrown it away when she'd acquired it this morning. But on closer inspection, she noticed that it bore obvious signs of magical enchantment. What they were, she couldn't tell. But she was determined to find out. Folding it up carefully, she wedged it inside an old bound copy of _"A Beginner's Guide to Elemental Transfiguration"_ that she'd picked up in a second hand book sale. No-one would ever find it in there.


	11. Transitioning

A/N Sorry this has taken a while! This chapter is from Sirius and will hopefully amuse you. Directly follows on from the last chapter with some flashback scenes as well. Hope you enjoy, and thank you for all the lovely reviews- please keep them coming!

* * *

 _Transitioning_

 _Sirius_

* * *

Sirius made his way back up to the dormitory with the others after the Transfiguration lesson. Evans had stormed off ahead of everyone, obviously reeling from being partnered with Snape. Sirius thought it served her right, this was comeuppance for her unceremonious theft of the map this morning. Although admittedly James hadn't fared much better with his partner for the group work. Mulciber was as thick as they came, and thuggishly violent to boot. Even James would struggle to achieve a good mark alongside the tool that was Mulciber.

He rubbed his black eye gingerly. It was still sore; he knew he should have gone to the hospital wing but he couldn't face Pomfrey. It hadn't been his best moment, and nor had it been James' and quite honestly he could think of nothing worse than Pompfrey fussing over him.

It had all started when James had woken up and realised that Lily's book, and more critically, the map had gone. He closed his eyes, replaying the scene in his head….

"PADFOOT!"

Sirius had awoken with a start to see James' standing on his bed, a look of pure rage on his face. Seeing as looks such as these were normally reserved for absolutely terrible occurrences such as Snape successfully getting a hex in or Slytherin beating them at quidditch, Sirius had been more than a little bit taken aback. Things such as these rarely happened so early in the morning within the safe confines of their own dormitory.

"What the fuck Prongs, I was sleeping" he'd said, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah well it's _gone_."

Sirius had sighed, and recalled his encounter with Evans earlier that morning. It was then that he'd realised that she'd obviously come up here to retrieve that blasted book James had taken last week. He had a vague memory of her having mentioned something along those sorts of lines. It had been too early in the morning to pay much attention to such trivial details.

"The book?" Sirius had said casually, not really that bothered about whether Evans had taken it back. He generally tried to leave Prongs to his love-hate thing he had going on with Evans. If he was honest he couldn't really give a damn.

"No, not the book you wanker, although that has gone as well. The _map_ ," James had paused dramatically, letting the effect of his words sink in.

"The bitch took the map?!" Sirius had said. He'd felt a bit guilty at that point. It had never occurred to him that Evans might have taken more than just the bloody textbook James had stolen.

"Wait, a girl has been in here?" Peter had piped up from the corner. He'd been even more self-conscious that he was usually recently and Sirius frequently saw him sneaking a glance down at his rather rotund stomach. It had been a small mercy that Peter had been fast asleep when he'd brought Emmeline back the other day.

"Not again Padfoot. Can't you shag them somewhere else?" Remus had added. He'd been rather pissed off, probably because Sirius knew he hadn't approved of the whole Emmeline thing last week. He'd been more than a little tipsy and had since apologised, but it was still a sore point with Remus. As far as he was concerned he'd broken the ultimate code of the boys' dormitory.

"No, no you don't understand," Sirius had tried to explain. But no one was listening.

"No we perfectly understand."

"No you-"

"More than perfectly."

"Please, listen-"

"Well not that well, but I get the mechanics," Peter had quipped, a red tinge colouring his cheeks.

"Peter, No-one cares about the fact you'll be a thirty year old virgin."

"I will not!"

"Yes you will. You haven't even got to first base."

"Says who?"

"FOR FUCK SAKE," Sirius had lost his patience by that point. "It was Evans-"

"It was _WHO_?"

He remembered thinking at the time that he hadn't thought that sentence though. He'd swivelled round to face James; he'd needed to explain, and quickly. But he had been too late. Just as he was opening his mouth to speak he had seen James' fist speeding towards him, and with a large thump the room had spiralled into darkness.

He'd only been out for about ten minutes and in that time Remus had managed to calm James down. They'd even laughed about it afterwards once Sirius had managed to explain that he hadn't spent the night dallying with Evans. Him and James didn't often fight, and Sirius couldn't recall a time where any incident had lasted longer than a few hours. Punches were exchanged, bruises nursed and by that point they'd normally forgotten what they'd even argued about in the first place. The fight may have been behind them now but the question about how they would retrieve the map still very much stood. If Evans was anything to go by it wouldn't be easy.

* * *

"Why does it have to be me again?"

"Because it won't seem suspicious if it's you. You're the dormitory's resident whore," James replied impatiently.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Like you lot wouldn't be if you had so many pretty girls falling at your feet."

James gave him a look. "Now the plan is simple. You just need to slip upstairs and find the map. Pretend you really want to shag Emmeline or something."

Remus let out a long sigh. "And how exactly are you suggesting that he get up to the girls' dormitories? You know we can't get up there."

James grinned. "I have a theory," he announced triumphantly.

"Well spill then," Remus prompted, looking unconvinced.

"Well girls can take pets up there right? Male pets?"

Sirius cocked his head. "So you think we'll get up there as an animagus then?"

"Sure I do," James laughed. "Come on, we all know the Hogwarts' founders weren't that smart. I mean, they built a school for children next to the Forbidden Forest. And put a giant squid in the lake."

Sirius shrugged and glanced up at the stairs that led to the girls' dormitories. "Only one way to find out I suppose." He prodded Peter. "Go on. Go test it."

"Why me?"

"Because it'll look strange if any of the girls see a dog going up the stairs. Dogs aren't even allowed in the castle. Whereas you'll fit right in."

Peter shifted a little nervously. "Alright then," he mumbled. "I'll go now."

Peter took a few steps towards the stairs before transforming.

They all watched with baited breath as Peter darted up the staircase. The stairs didn't turn to a slide like they usually did and Sirius raised his hand to give James a high five.

"See if you can spot the map," James called after Peter.

A few moments later they heard shrieks coming from the dormitory. Peter must had made it all the way up but judging by the commotion had also been seen.

"What girls," James snorted. "It's only a rat. You'd think we'd set Remus on them…. No offence Moony," he added.

Remus chuckled. "I'm not sure," he laughed. "I'd be pretty disturbed if I woke up to see Peter looming over me. In either of his forms really."

The shrieks died down and Peter shot back down the stairs. He quickly transformed back, his face flushed.

"Well?" James asked expectantly.

"Well I got in," Peter gushed. "And they had the lights on and everything. But I obviously couldn't see the map. It's not like Evans was going to have put it on the floor was it?"

"She might if she wasn't little miss perfect and was untidy like the rest of the world," Sirius pointed out venomously.

James grinned and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up. "Well, back to my original plan then," he said. "You can seduce Emmeline tonight."

"And exactly why is sex needed on this excursion?" Remus asked, rolling his eyes.

"It's his alibi," James replied dismissively.

"So I go upstairs, look for the map and if someone comes in I just jump on the bed and pretend to be waiting to get fucked by my not quite girlfriend?" Sirius said. He was not at all convinced about this 'plan' of James'. It had huge potential to backfire, mostly on him.

"That sounds about right," James nodded enthusiastically.

"Just make sure you bring some rose petals and whipped cream," Remus laughed. "You know, to make it seem realistic."

"You know what Moony, I think I'd rather the whole of Hogwarts thought I was transitioning to life as a female than be caught lying naked on a bed of rose petals with a can of whipped cream and some strawberry fondue waiting for Emmeline Vance."

"Whatever floats your boat," James shrugged. "But I'm sure chicks dig that sort of crap."

"Yeah, stuff like that is in Witch Weekly all the time." Peter added in.

"How do you know that?" James asked curiously, turning to face him.

"The girls subscribe to it," Peter answered, his cheeks tinged with red again. "It arrives by owl every Monday and Marlene and Mary always discuss it at breakfast."

"I didn't think you were capable of noticing anything but food at breakfast?" Sirius quipped, his mood getting increasingly worse. This plan was terrible, and this discussion was not filling him with any more confidence.

"Well," Remus said quickly, changing the subject as Peter's cheeks turned an event deeper red. "If you go over dinner you're very unlikely to get caught."

"Fine."

This would be the last time he agreed to something like this. Next time James could go. It was his fault that they'd lost the map anyway. If he hadn't stolen Evan's blasted textbook she'd have continued to avoid their dormitory like the plague and none of this would have ever happened.

"Well that's sorted then," James said smiling. "We'll try and keep Evans occupied at dinner. She's been a bit suspicious today."

"Yes, well maybe she wouldn't be if you stopped asking her for a spare piece of parchment literally every class," Remus replied dryly.

James ignored him, and instead gestured towards the door. "Moony, Wormtail, you're on distracting Lily Evans duty with me. Padfoot, we expect you to have the map by the time we're back."

Sirius sighed inwardly as the rest of them left for dinner. He was not looking forward to this. They hadn't even discussed how the fuck he would explain even being able to get into the girls' dormitories if he did get caught. Maybe his earlier statement about the whole of Hogwarts thinking he was transitioning to a female hadn't been so far off the mark. Well, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it. Hopefully the others would be able to ensure he wasn't disturbed. But almost anything involving James and Evans was destined for disaster. James didn't know the meaning of subtlety, at least not when it came to Evans. And Evans, well Evans was a suspicious little bitch at the best of times.

Well, the situation wasn't going to get any better; he might as well get it over and done with. Transforming, he bounded up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. Peter hadn't said which door it had been. He'd meant to ask. He gave each of the doors a good sniff, but there wasn't any clue as to which belonged to 6th year. He wondered whether the acute canine sense of smell only really worked if you were familiar with the scent in dog form to start with. Regardless, none of the doors harboured any scent that was familiar.

With the logic that the doors might be arranged in ascending year group order he took a punt on the second door from the right. Rearing up on his hind legs, he pushed the door open. He padded into the room as quietly as he could, looking out for any indication as to how old the occupiers of this room were.

His first thought was that he didn't think it smelled right. It smelled even more feminine than he would have anticipated; some hideously sweet floral perfume hanging in the air. He thought this had to belong to a younger year group, or maybe this was just how all females smelt to dogs.

Unable to see much from his current height he jumped on to one of the beds, hoping that the extra height gained would yield some more conclusive results.

"Arghhhhh!" A shrill shriek pierced the silence.

Sirius' paws had not met a soft mattress as he'd expected. His claws were instead digging into what felt like someone's leg. Looking up, he saw a girl sitting up in bed with a look of unparalleled fear on her face.

"The Grim…" she whispered, backing up as fast as she could against the headboard. She obviously hadn't thought to draw her wand and instead was pulling the duvet up to her neck as this would somehow shield her from the terrible omen that had appeared on her bed. Looking at her round face and childish pigtails she couldn't have been much older than 13 or 14, hopefully not old enough to have studied the art of Divination… But judging from her reaction to a large black dog entering her chambers that was probably wishful thinking.

Tail between his legs, he leapt off the bed and slunk back through the door which was thankfully still ajar. He could hear footsteps behind him, the girl was following. Hoping to throw her off before she could spot him he darted through another door. Ears pricked, he heard the footsteps disappear down the stairs. Allowing himself a moment to collect himself, he put his head on his paws and panted, trying to get his breath back. That had not been a pleasant experience. For him nor the poor girl who was probably seeking therapy right this instance.

However, as luck would have it, this appeared to be the room he needed. The first clue was the textbook that lay on the floor beside the closest bed to him. It was open on the title page, with neat calligraphy telling him it belonged to Alice Hall. He also was pleased to note this room lacked the overpowering lurid smell of the first, and instead had a softer more mature edge. Overall, it was fairly pleasant; and he was ashamed to admit that it reminded him of Emmeline.

Pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind, he jumped onto the nearest bed, trying to see if he could spot the map. This time the room was certainly empty. If he could find the map quickly he could be out of here before anyone had even finished dessert. He'd had a more than minor hiccup with the girl in the room next door, but he still had time.

A good five minutes had passed and he hadn't spotted anything that could be the map. Maybe Evans had hidden it. Or worse, got rid of it. After all, it did just appear as an old ragged piece of parchment to those who did not know its secrets. It wouldn't be unlikely that Evans had chucked it into the nearest bin without a second thought. But Evans was smarter than that- she might have been able to tell it had been enchanted. Magic after all does leave its traces.

Trying to work out what bed might belong to Evans he moved along the row. The first one he already knew was Alice's. The second bore no clue as to its owner. A set of robes lay on the foot of it but with no name written in it, they could belong to any one of them. The next one clearly belonged to Mary. It was littered with layers upon layers of magazines and books. There were dozens of copies of Witch Weekly, and books bearing titles such as "The Secret to Charming your Wizard", "The Theory of Wandlove" and "An Astrologer's Guide to your Future Husband". He jumped onto the next bed, anxious of the passing time.

This bed was clearly Emmeline's. The smell of her perfume lingered on the sheets, and he was overwhelmed with an almost nostalgic feeling. This didn't make any sense; he'd fucked Emmeline only a few days ago. But somehow being in her own personal space was different. Sitting down, he surveyed the remaining beds. If he had to take a guess the bed nearest the window was Evan's. He wasn't sure why he thought this, but maybe it was something to do with the fact that it was by far the neatest and most orderly of the two remaining beds. Everything was arranged neatly on the bedside table right down to the quills that were lined up perfectly perpendicular to the edge of the cabinet.

Changing back into human form, he focused his search on the bed nearest the window. It would be ironic if it were Evan's he thought, for this was the exact equivalent spot of where Prongs slept in their dormitory. The world worked in funny ways sometimes.

As he was going through the books on the side table he thought he heard footsteps on the stairs. Freezing, he listened intently. The footsteps got louder and then faded again. Hearing a door down the corridor open and slam, he relaxed. He went back to his search, diligently going through all the pieces of parchment that were folded neatly on one of the shelves. So far he hadn't seen anything that resembled the map. He unrolled yet another piece of stained parchment, but it was only a potions essay. However, unlike the others, this one had a name at the top: _Lily Evans_. At least he was looking in the right place.

He knelt down to have a look under the bed. Maybe Evans had realised that it was important and had hidden it. He wouldn't put it past her.

Just as he was surveying the contents under Lily's bed, the door slammed open; the motion sending vibrations across the room.

"Black?!"

Swivelling round he came face to face with Evans. She was standing in the doorway, looking more surprised than angry. He was sure this would change though, and true enough as the seconds passed her expression began to harden.

"How on earth did you get up here? You're a boy," she stated simply, placing her hands on her hips.

Sirius deliberated how best to answer this. He had many options, none of which were the truth.

"Well…." He said slowly, as Lily tapped her foot impatiently. "You see, gender is a very fluid thing." Remus would have been proud of this answer; he was into modern analysis of such things.

Lily hesitated, that obviously hadn't been the answer she'd been expecting. Taking this as an opportunity he pushed on.

"Well, have you never considered how Hogwarts dormitories treat people who don't fit perfectly into either a male or female category?" he continued, his words taking on a distinct Moony-like quality. "I mean gender isn't a binary concept is it? There is a ton of grey areas."

Lily raised an eyebrow. He wasn't sure what she was most surprised at. The fact he was in the dormitory or the fact he was standing here lecturing her about the theory of gender.

"I always thought it was done on sex?" Lily said slowly, looking at Sirius with an odd expression.

"Well, that's not simple either." Sirius replied, thinking on his feet. "I mean what about hermaphrodites?"

"I suppose…." Lily answered, taking a step backwards. "What are you trying to tell me Black?"

Fuck, he hadn't really thought this through. Maybe hermaphrodites hadn't been the best explanation to use in this situation after all.

"You know what," He said firmly. "It's definitely done on gender."

"Erm so you identify as a…. as a female…?" Lily asked, raising one eyebrow. Fuck he hadn't thought this argument through either.

"I mean," Lily said quickly. "It's perfectly okay if you do. I'm just, erm you know surprised."

"You know what, Evans. I confess. I'm just ace at charm work. I undid the spells," Sirius replied, needing to steer the conversation away from any assumption that he either lacked balls, or had a sudden desire to wear a dress.

"Why would you do that?" Evans asked incredulously. "And why are you going through my things?!"

"I erm…." Sirius hesitated. "I wanted to find something of yours. You know for erm sentimental reasons."

"For _Potter_?!" Her face had contorted in anger, and she took a step towards him; her expression murderous.

"No," he said quickly, trying to improvise something. _Anything._

"For me."

"For you?" Lily repeated, her expression softening slightly and taking on a hint of confusion.

"Yes."

Lily didn't say anything, staring at him with an unreadable expression.

"Does Potter know?"

"About what?"

"About this." Lily had avoided being explicit. Probably for the best, at least then he could claim misinterpretation if this ever made it back to James.

"Oh no. James wouldn't understand…." Sirius said quietly, in what he hoped was a sincere tone. He'd picked this route now so he might as well run with it.

"Does Emmeline know?" Lily asked softly. She was looking at him in a way which he could only describe as pitying. She obviously thought she was now embroiled in some sad and twisted ménage a trois of unrequited love involving herself and two best friends. All in all, quite a tragic situation he thought, rather glad it wasn't at all true.

"No, of course not," he snorted, trying to regain some of his more familiar mannerisms. Evans wouldn't buy it if he went too far down the path he had started on.

"That's not fair."

"Life's not fair," Sirius shrugged. "I like her well enough."

Lily was surveying him intently with those green almond eyes. She disapproved. He knew that already, but this time there was a hint of sadness behind her eyes. She obviously still pitied him and he wasn't sure if he could handle that. He'd dealt with many reactions to his plight when he'd been disowned, but pity had been by far the worst.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Sirius asked, changing the subject. "Why aren't you at dinner?"

"Oh," Lily said distantly. "One of the third years claimed she saw the Grim in her bedroom. But of course she was just imagining it."

"Well, third years are particularly vulnerable to silly ideas," He replied, trying to hold back his laughter. "Especially if old Tralawney has been at them."

"Yes, that is true," Lily sighed. "The way she was talking you would have thought the thing was trying to mount her."

At this, Sirius couldn't hold back his laughter. Of all the things he'd been accused of, this was certainly novel.

"Yes it is quite funny isn't it…" Lily went on. "Anyway, you need to get out of here. I don't care why or how you got up here. It's against school rules."

It seemed Evan's sentimental mood had passed, and she had reverted back to her hateful bitch persona. But this he preferred. He wasn't sure whether there would be consequences of this exchange, but he sincerely hoped there wouldn't be. He could do without having another punch from James coming his way.

"Sure," he said, strolling out of the dormitory. Lily stepped aside as he passed, her arms crossed but expression softer than usual. He had to put a stop to this. He couldn't cope with Lily looking at him this way. Things were better when she hated him. Life was simpler and more predictable that way.

Turning on his heel at the top of the stairs, he stood to face her.

"And Evans?"

"What?"

"If you ever fancy a fuck just let me know," he said smirking at her, revelling in the anger that had flooded back to her face. "It was nice to see you this morning."

"GET OUT BLACK!" Was all he heard back, but that was all he needed.


	12. Second

A/N. This is the first chapter from Marlene's perspective so I hope you like it. Thank you for all the reviews on the last chapter- really appreciate all the feedback. Thanks especially to those from guest commenter's as I can't reply to you directly!

* * *

 _Second_

 _Marlene_

* * *

The whole of Gryffindor house gathered around, intrigued to see what was happening in the courtyard. Marlene wasn't sure how it had started, but she could see James Potter shouting at what looked like Snape and a group of other Slytherin sixth years. Grabbing Emmeline's hand she edged closer to see what was happening.

"So are you man enough to take us on?" Snape was hissing, his wand held aloft. "One on one Potter, with none of your little friends there to save you?"

Rosier and Nott jeered appreciatively as Snape took a step forward towards James. Marlene was unsure what had caused this outburst. Snape was not normally so forward in prompting a public dual with James Potter. However she supposed he had his group of fellow 'followers' with him today. She could count more rumoured devotees in the crowd than just Rosier and Nott; Mulciber was lurking behind them, muttering something to Goyle and Avery.

However James didn't seem to be bothered by this in the slightest. He was standing casually in front of Snape flanked by Sirius and unusually Peter, who could normally be found watching the action from a much safer vantage point. Marlene could also see Remus just behind them, whispering something she couldn't quite catch into James' ear. Marlene couldn't decide if he was trying to talk James down or giving him strategy tips. With Remus it could go either way depending on what had prompted this dual. Remus was very non-confrontational but was equally principled when it came to doing the right thing, which sadly in this day and age often involved self-defence.

"What happened?" Marlene asked Fabian Prewett who was standing just ahead of them, his brown hair just visible over Frank Longbottom's shoulder.

"Snape insulted Pettigrew," Fabian replied, his eyes not leaving the scene in front of them. "Something about him being an undisciplined greedy leech and then he tried to hex him with some nasty curse."

Marlene nodded as Emmeline jostled ahead of her and Fabian. Being at least half a foot shorter than Marlene she was probably trying to get a better view of what was happening. She'd probably be more than a little anxious about Sirius getting hurt as well. Marlene didn't really know why she worried though. Both Sirius and James had been in enough fights to know how to take care of themselves, and the same could be said for Remus if he was really pushed into a confrontation.

James was speaking now, his tone amused if anything. "Challenge accepted _Snivellus_ , although I am surprised you want such a public audience to your humiliation."

The Gryffindors roared with laughter, as did a few Ravenclaws who had also come to watch. There were also a few Hufflepuffs in the crowd but they didn't seem overly impressed, if anything they were watching the developments warily as if they didn't really want to be there.

"I appoint Rosier as my second," Snape declared as Rosier stepped forward, a vile sneer plastered on his aristocratic face.

Marlene swallowed. This looked like it could get serious. The only reason you would ever appoint a second in a dual was if the first was for some reason incapacitated or seriously injured. In old fashioned duelling it was often death, although she doubted that you-know-who's followers were as chivalrous as to comply with traditional duelling etiquette. There was a reason after all that his Death Eater's wore masks. Behind all their blood purity mania and claims to illustrious lineages they were nothing but anonymous cowards.

James however didn't seem phased by this development. He was muttering something to Sirius who was loping next to him with his hands in his pockets and a carefree grin on his face. Marlene had to smile. She may not have been romantically involved with Sirius for a long time now, but she could certainly still see the appeal. She felt Emmeline's eyes on her and she quickly averted her gaze back to James. Emmeline still hadn't got over her paranoia that she still wanted to sleep with her on and off boyfriend, despite her numerous reassurances to the contrary. But Marlene couldn't say she blamed her, she supposed most girls would have been more than a little wary given Marlene and Sirius' history. But Emmeline was one of her best friends, and Marlene had hoped she would have come to terms with it by now. After all, it wasn't her fault that she had history with him.

"As you wish _Snivellus_ ," James answered back, his voice loud and clear above the crowd. "I appoint Pettigrew as my second."

This drew a surprised murmur from the crowd. This was not what anyone would have predicted. Sirius was _always_ James' right hand man. They were inseparable: you barely ever saw one without the other. In fact Marlene always used to joke that the only way to get Sirius on his own was to sleep with him. Maybe James had chosen Peter as Snape had insulted him? Or maybe Sirius wasn't in the mood for duelling. Marlene suspected the former.

Peter had taken a nervous step forward and was holding his wand aloft as he faced up to Snape and Rosier. He was still a full foot behind James and his wand was shaking slightly as if the hand holding it was trembling. Combined with the look of fear on his chubby round face, Marlene couldn't say he inspired much confidence. Not when compared to James who was standing at ease, with absolutely no indication that he was remotely bothered by the fact Snape and Rosier were preparing to curse him.

"Enjoying the show ladies?"

Marlene looked up to see Sirius standing next to them, an amused look on his face. She watched as he looped his arms around Emmeline's waist, pulling her towards him.

"It's a bit nerve-wracking isn't it?" Marlene replied, glad that Sirius was here. Somehow his presence was reassuring; nothing terrible ever happened when Sirius was around. He and James both knew how to get out of the stickiest situations.

They all looked on as she watched James and Snape walk up to each other only to take ten steps backwards. Neither had done the customary bow or had even managed a courtesy nod. Marlene supposed that tradition was not at the forefront of one's mind when you had such a history as James and Snape. They couldn't manage a pleasant word to one another let alone a bow. It was well known that neither would turn down an opportunity to curse the other. They'd been at each other's throats for years now, and that wasn't something that looked like it would ever change.

Marlene held her breath as Snape and James started the duel. James had fired what looked like an expelliarmus but being non-verbal it was somewhat hard to tell with any confidence. The jet of light had certainly been red, however she supposed it could equally have been a stunner. She'd probably never find out for Snape blocked it and responded in turn with another non-verbal spell which she suspected was some sort of malicious hex.

They continued in this fashion for a while, with neither seeming to have the upper hand. If anything they were almost exactly equally matched. Just when you thought James was gaining some ground Snape would claw it back and get a hit in, forcing James to dodge wildly.

"Levicorpus!"

James flew into the air, like a puppet being held by an invisible string. But Snape hadn't even moved his wand. The crowd swivelled round to see Rosier flanking Snape with his wand outstretched and the corners of his thin mouth upturned in a smirk.

The crowd roared at the blatant disrespect for the rules whilst James dangled in the air, his wand now lying on the ground by his feet. Marlene felt Sirius push past her, hearing him swear loudly as he jostled his way back to the front.

The crowd was now looking at Peter who was standing there as if glued to the cobblestones beneath his feet. His bottom lip was quivering and his wand was now oscillating wildly as he struggled to hold it steady.

"Peter, do _something_ ," James shouted, his ankle still hoisted vertically in the air. "Don't just fucking stand there!"

But Peter seemed unable to move, his eyes darting wildly from James to Rosier and then to Snape as his mouth silently mouthed spells that weren't materialising. The rest of the Slytherins were laughing by this point, as were a few of the Ravenclaws. Marlene wasn't however and neither were any of the Gryffindors. If anything she felt sorry for him. Some people just weren't cut out for duelling and Peter was one of them.

"See," Rosier remarked snidely. "Snape was absolutely correct when he said Pettigrew was nothing but a worthless coward. Blood traitor Black isn't any better and as for that _animal_ you hang-"

"Stupefy!"

The words hadn't quite left Rosier's lips when a jet of red light hit him squarely in the chest. As if in slow motion Rosier fell to the ground, his body contorting as he hit the cobblestones beneath him with a satisfying crunch. Everyone's eyes darted to Peter but he was nowhere to be seen.

Instead Remus was now standing under James with his wand pointed directly at Rosier, which was still emitting bright scarlet sparks. The whole crowd was now fixated on Remus who so rarely joined his friends in such situations. Rosier had obviously crossed a line.

Peter had retreated backwards and was now standing silently next to Sirius who had his wand arm protectively outstretched. He muttered something and Marlene saw James tumble to the ground.

"Fuck off Rosier, no-one gives a shit what a backstabbing little cheat like you thinks," James was back on his feet now and was shooting another stunner at Snape. He just about managed to block it in time but Remus and Sirius were firing curses as well, the three of them advancing towards Snape in a flurry of bright red and green light.

Snape was retreating, seemingly having realised that with Rosier down he was now outnumbered 3-1. Nott and Mucliber were pushing his way through the Slytherin crowd but there was no way they would get there in time.

"STOP!"

Everyone's eyes were suddenly on Professor Sinistra who had appeared out of nowhere, her fluorescent pink robes stark against the sea of red, blue, yellow and green.

The duel halted but it seemed like the sudden interruption had taken its toll. Snape's hooked nose had swollen to the size of a large melon, Rosier's unconscious form was now sporting purple boils and Nott was clutching his throat as he emitted loud clucking noises. The other side hadn't fared much better either; James' forehead was bleeding profusely and his hair was slightly singed, Sirius was holding his leg at an awkward angle and Remus had sprouted thick brown hair all over his face and hands.

"Yes Professor?" James asked innocently, his hand brushing out the last remaining embers in his hair as he tried stem the bleeding.

"You three," she gestured to James, Remus and Sirius. "And you too," she said as her dark eyes rested on Snape, Rosier and Nott. "Come with me."

Marlene saw James flash a smirk at Sirius and Remus as they all collected their stuff and fell into step behind Professor Sinistra. Rosier, Nott and Snape followed suit, but looked distinctly sourer about the prospect of being reprimanded by Sinistra.

The crowd watched in silence as Sinistra's pink robes disappeared up the path leading up to the Entrance Hall. James, Remus and Sirius were languishing behind slightly as Sirius hopped along, steadied and propped up between James and Remus. By the way his leg was flopping around in a manner not dissimilar to the Giant Squid, it looked like the bones had been removed. Marlene didn't envy him- unlike some of the others that wouldn't be a quick fix. Although she didn't know how long Remus' hair would take to remove either- that would all depend on the curse that had hit him.

"Look at Peter," Mary whispered into her and Emmeline's ear.

Marlene turned around to see Peter standing alone on the path ahead of them. His head was bowed and he was shifting his weight awkwardly from one foot to another. Marlene had to feel for him. It had been because of him that James had started the fight in the first place, and now all three of his friends were on their way to the hospital wing and almost certainly McGonagall's office.

"Poor Peter," Emmeline said quietly, echoing Marlene's own thoughts.

Marlene nodded, unsure what as best to do. Her instinct was to go and comfort Peter but experience told her that it might not be what he needed right now.

"Should we go over?" Mary asked. Her voice was concerned but it didn't seem to quite meet her eyes.

Thankfully Emmeline shook her head. "I don't think so, it's probably best to leave him be. If I were him I'd want to be alone."

Mary scowled but didn't say anything.

"Are you going to visit Sirius?" Marlene asked, changing the subject.

Emmeline nodded silently, as she swept her dark hair off her face. Maybe this hadn't been the best thing to change the subject to. Emmeline was touchy with her about Sirius at the best of times, and he being injured wouldn't help matters. Maybe Peter wasn't the only person who didn't need her company right now.

"We'll let you get on with it," Marlene replied, grabbing Mary's wrist and leading her up the path. The crowd was starting to disperse now and they joined the throng of people making their way back up to the castle for lunch. Emmeline followed but didn't join them as they turned right into the Entrance Hall, instead taking the stairs that led up to the hospital wing.

Emmeline had only just vanished around the corner when Mary turned to face her. "When is she going to get over the fact that once upon a time you fucked Sirius?"

Marlene blinked. That hadn't been quite what she'd been expected Mary to say.

"Erm," Marlene stuttered, unsure how to respond to such a blunt statement.

"Well it's obvious she hasn't gotten over it."

Marlene just shrugged in response. Whilst she wouldn't admit it she had to agree with Mary. It had been ages since she'd slept with Sirius but she doubted that Emmeline would ever fully relax around her. As far as she was concerned it seemed like the damage had already been done. Marlene supposed she could see where she was coming from. She'd seen enough of the backstabbing and scheming to know that some girls loved nothing better than to mess around with another girl's boyfriend, but it did hurt her somewhat that Emmeline didn't trust her. Marlene had never cheated, or even been the girl who boys had cheated with. But somehow people never seemed to see that. They only saw notches on bedposts.

"I mean do you think girls just feel threatened by other females who have seen their man naked?"

Marlene closed her eyes and counted to ten. Mary hadn't relentedsince the duel at lunchtime _._ This question was the latest of many, and sadly unlikely to be the last. She'd been praying for the return of her roommates for what felt like centuries but unlike her and Mary they all took Herbology and were now occupied down in the greenhouses examining the photosynthesis process of the nocturnal poison ivy. Marlene couldn't say she was jealous but right now she'd have rather sat through a double lesson on the photosynthesis process of the nocturnal poison ivy than sit here stuck with Mary.

Mary didn't seem to have noticed or cared that Marlene hadn't responded. She was now recountin g for what must have been the seventh time about how all the Ravenclaw girls felt threatened by her relationship with Tom Barnes.

"I saw Cleo Jones the other day eying him up and Pascale Delacey gave me a dirty look at dinner last week. They're all just so jealous of how hot my boyfriend is. I suppose I would be jealous too if I were them. I mean Cleo Jones is such a dirty whore and Pascale…"

Marlene rolled her eyes, not bothering to listen to the rest. She highly doubted Cleo Jones was jealous. It was well known that she'd slept with half the men of Hogwarts and Marlene doubted that she harboured any deep desire for Tom Barnes. He was good looking and nice enough, but nothing special by any accounts. She equally doubted that Pascale Delacey had given her a dirty look at dinner. Pascale was going out with Ewan Jarvis, a rather attractive seventh year and a key member of the Ravenclaw quidditch team.

"And then there is Miriam Cox who still absolutely hates me for taking Ross Pickering's virginity back in 5th year. She so just needs to let it go."

Marlene stifled a yawn. If she were Mary she wouldn't have given a second thought to what someone as boring and shallow as Miriam Cox thought of anyone.

"On that subject- who was Sirius' first time with? I don't actually think anyone's ever told me that."

Marlene swallowed. This wasn't a question she wanted to answer.

"I don't know."

"Has he never said?" Mary asked, sitting up a bit straighter.

"Sirius is quite private in that respect," Marlene replied.

"But you do _know_?"

Of course Marlene knew. But she wasn't about to tell Mary that.

"Afraid not," she shrugged, hoping that would be the end of the conversation.

Mary rocked backwards looking disappointed, but thankfully didn't seem inclined to push her on the matter.

"What about Potter? Who was his first time with?"

This was the last straw. She'd had enough of being quizzed, interrogated and spoken over for one day. She had to find an escape.

"I might go and see how the boys are," Marlene said, grabbing her jumper from her beside cabinet and pulling it over her head. "They might be in want of some company."

"I'll come with you!" Mary said, making to pull her shoes on.

Marlene thought quickly. "I don't know, one of us should stay to let the others know what happened. Emmeline might not have told Lily and Alice about the duel."

This seemed to do the trick. Mary's face had lit up; she loved nothing more than gossiping and being the first to tell someone the juiciest titbits was what she lived for.

"You're completely right!" Mary replied, settled back down. "It wouldn't be fair for Alice and Lily to miss out on hearing the full story, and no offence Marlene- I would tell it better."

"Exactly," Marlene said, relieved she'd taken the bait. "I'd _never_ do it justice."

Giving Mary a final wave Marlene made her way out of the dormitory and down to the Hospital Wing. The corridors were deserted; the vast majority of the school were in classes this afternoon. She'd assumed that the boys would still be in the Hospital Wing, but she supposed it didn't really matter if they'd already been discharged. She'd rather wander aimlessly around the castle than have to endure another moment alone with Mary.

The door to the hospital wing was closed. Marlene knocked loudly, but if it was closed it was quite possible that Madame Pompfrey wouldn't be taking visitors. However even if she wasn't allowed in she'd at least get a chance to ask how they were.

The door opened and Madame Pompfrey appeared. Her face looked stern and her pale blue eyes bore the distinct look of tiredness.

"McKinnon," she said sharply. "How can I help you?"

"I was wondering if I could see Sirius, James and Remus?"

Madame Pompfrey hesitated for a moment. "Well, I'd better check with them first. They may not want visitors."

She disappeared, leaving the door slightly ajar. Marlene could see several beds that looked occupied; three at one end of the room and another three at the other. Marlene supposed that one set was the Slytherins' and the other was the Gryffindors'. Definitely a sensible choice on Madame Pomfrey's part. Somehow she didn't think either party would much appreciate the other's company at the present time. Although it seemed like no-one was in the mood for socialising at all; every bed had the curtains drawn. Maybe the boys wouldn't want to see her after all.

"You may see Mr Potter only." Madame Pompfrey had returned and was holding the door open for her.

"Why not Remus and Sirius?" Marlene asked, curiously.

"Mr Black is asleep and Mr Lupin has expressed no desire to see visitors at this present time."

Marlene shrugged and entered the dimly lit room. Madame Pompfrey closed the door and sent her over to a bed by the window which she presumed must have been James'. The curtains opened and Marlene indeed saw James sitting up in bed, his trademark grin plastered on his face.

"I'll leave you two to your privacy," Madame Pompfrey said as she closed the curtains back around them.

"Thanks _Poppy_ ," James said solemnly, his smile broadening when he heard her tutting from the other side of the curtains.

"Sirius and I love to wind her up," James said as he shuffled up on his bed to make room for her. "But Remus is more respectful."

"Remus has always been the gentleman out of the three of you."

James looked indignant. "Remus?! Sirius and I are the aristocrats and thus possess a much more refined and genteel nature."

Marlene snorted. "Genteel and refined? You and Sirius?"

James grinned. "Alright, point taken."

"How is Remus anyway, it's odd that he's not taking visitors?"

"In his furry state he thought it un-gentlemen like for ladies to see him as such. It would hurt their pretty eyes and sensitive female condition," James replied, although Marlene wasn't sure his smile quite met his eyes. There was another emotion there, she just wasn't sure what. Perhaps now wasn't the time to push it.

"So how are you feeling?"

"Fine to be honest," James answered, stretching his arms out in front of him. "Forehead took a while for her to heal as she had to make up some sort of paste…. Nasty curse Nott hit me with. But it's all done now. I'm only still here so she can make check the blood replenishing potion did its job."

Marlene nodded. "What about the others?"

"Sirius needs to have his bones regrown. I think he's pretending to be asleep to put it off," James chuckled. "Can't say I blame him- skelegrow is a legal alternative to the cruciatus curse."

"You couldn't possibly know that! You've never had the cruciatus curse used on you."

James looked at her, his expression deadpan. "That's what you know Marlene."

Marlene rolled her eyes, but had to smile. James Potter, despite his faults could always be counted on for putting a smile on people's faces. It was rare that his sense of humour deserted him and when it did it was normally something to do with Lily Evans. She had a way of winding him up like that. Or maybe it was just that unlike anyone else, he cared about what she thought of him.

"What about Remus then?"

"Well, the curse used on him is proving a little difficult to identify," James said quietly. "Pomprey's looked through dozens of books but nothing seems to be working on his 'fur'. Every time she tries to remove it the hair just gets thicker."

Marlene was surprised James didn't seem to find this funny. This struck her as something both he and Sirius would have found amusing under your average circumstances. They themselves often delighted in creating and using such spells on unsuspecting victims. Marlene distinctly recalled a time back in 5th year when they'd hexed Taragon Parkinson so that green hairy caterpillars had poured out of his nose. Every time he'd tried 'finite incantatum' the flow of bright green caterpillars had got heavier. Madame Pompfrey hadn't been able to fix him so he was taken to Professor Flitwick who finally had managed to remove the offending hex.

"Why hasn't she asked Snape?" Marlene asked, sure that he had to know the counter curse to whatever he had used on Remus.

James' expression turned sour. "He's claiming he was confunded and has no memory of the spell performed….."

Marlene sighed. Although to be fair she doubted James and Sirius would have returned the favour has the tables been turned.

"That's….. unfortunate."

"Tell me about it," James huffed. "Sneaky greasy bastard". The last bit had been just a little bit too loud for Marlene heard Madame Pompfrey sigh and mutter something under her breath.

"Want me to go and check on Sirius for you?" Marlene asked.

"No need," James said, reaching down to where his school bag sat on the floor. "I can check from the safe comfort of my own hospital bed."

"How exactly?"

"With these," James replied smugly, holding out a small square mirror. Marlene didn't know what the significance of it was, but she didn't doubt she'd find out soon. James was now holding the mirror at arm's length in front of him.

"Sirius Black," he stated simply.

Nothing happened.

"Sirius BLACK," he repeated, this time with a little more emphasis.

This time something did happen. The surface of the mirror began to ripple and with a jolt Marlene saw Sirius staring back at them through the glass as if he was trapped behind the glass.

"Give me a chance mate," Sirius scowled. "I don't sleep clutching the mirror you know."

"Well you should," James replied, grinning.

"What's up anyway? I was sleeping."

"Nothing," James said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Fuck off then," Sirius said, and with that the glad rippled again and he was gone as quickly as he appeared. James just laughed, seemingly not at all bothered by his best friend's sudden departure.

"Nifty gadgets aren't they?" James said, placing the mirror back in his bag.

Marlene had to agree. She had never seen anything like them, and they certainly explained a lot. She'd never understood how Sirius and James seemed to know the precise location of the other at pretty much any given moment. She had always put it down to them simply being attuned to each other's movements. But these mirrors were certainly a game changer.

"I didn't know you could get anything like that," Marlene replied, still slightly awed. "Do you think he would mind if I went to see him. He didn't exactly seem pleased to see you."

"Nah, he'd be fine," James replied, lowering his head onto his freshly plumped pillow. "He has to be in a really bad mood to turn down the company of females. He was more than pleased to see Emmeline earlier. Almost as pleased as he was to be given detention by Professor Sinistra."

"I'll see you later then," Marlene said, smiling at James. "Get better soon."

"Don't wish me that. I intend to be sick enough to skip classes tomorrow too."

Marlene laughed and closed the curtains behind her leaving James alone with his thoughts of the next day. She imagined Sirius would be in much worse spirits; the prospect of having his bones regrown overnight would not be a happy one. Not to mention that Sirius generally was a lot less positive than his best friend.

"Sirius?"

Marlene only got a grunt in response. Knowing she wouldn't elicit any further response from Sirius she pulled back the curtains. If he hadn't responded Marlene would have thought he was asleep. Sirius was on his front, his dark hair just visible from under his pillow. Even beneath the duvet Marlene could see that his leg wasn't right; it seemed to be sitting at an odd angle, sticking out almost perpendicular to his body.

"That looks painful," she commented as she perched on the edge of the bed.

The pillow twitched slightly in what Marlene imagined was Sirius giving a curt nod. She didn't say anything further. She'd learned long ago that you were better off leaving Sirius to it when he was in this sort of mood. Badgering him would only aggravate him further.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Marlene felt a hand on hers. She squeezed his hand gently, glad that she was at least providing some comfort, however limited. Her thoughts wandered to how he must have been with Emmeline earlier. Sirius had never been much of a lovey-dovey guy but it seemed he was taking Emmeline a tad more seriously this year. Although it was still very much an odd match. Emmeline was a quiet reflective girl, and Sirius was… well he was one of a kind. But quiet and reflective he certainly wasn't. He was loud, charismatic and more than a little bit reckless, however as the old saying went maybe opposites did attract after all. Marlene and Sirius had always been much too similar to ever have anything serious. Not that either of them had ever wanted that. However she had some good memories of him, and right now seeing him curled up in bed, she felt a wave of nostalgia wash over her. She wasn't his girlfriend, but she'd sit here with him until he went to sleep. For old times' sake.


	13. Double Howlers

A/N Sorry for the long time between updates, but I'm back with a chapter from Remus! As it's been so long and the story is now getting quite long I thought I would start doing a brief summary of what has happened so far:

Summary: The Marauders duelled Snape and his Slytherin friends resulting in Remus being cursed by Snape with a curse that covered his face with fur. Peter is trying but struggling to be more like James and Sirius and backed out of the duel with Snape. Sirius is still refusing to talk about what happened with his parents and his casually seeing Emmeline. There is tension between Emmeline and Marlene over her previous relationship with Sirius, and Mary is causing conflict within the Gryffindor girls with her gossiping. Lily still has the Marauders map after stealing it from James and thinks that Sirius is in love with her after his failed attempt to retrieve it from her dorm. All of the sixth years have been given Transfiguration projects and Lily has been paired with Snape. That's pretty much the summary of recent events but if you need more I suggest you have a flick through the previous chapters!

* * *

 _Double Howlers_

 _Remus_

* * *

Remus had woken with a terrible headache, a sure sign of the full moon that would take to the sky tonight. To make matters worse it had only been yesterday that Madame Pompfrey had been able to cure the curse that Snape had hit him with during their duel last week. He'd missed a whole 4 days of lessons and now was going to miss at least another week. All thanks to Snape. Snape had to know. There was no way that hitting him with a curse that caused him to sprout brown fur on his face was a mere coincidence. Given Snape's constant snooping he supposed it was possible he had discovered the truth. Or at least had suspicions.

Remus sighed as he got out of bed and pulled a pain killing potion from the depths of his trunk. It wouldn't do much but it might take the edge off a little.

Standing up, he tried to ignore the dizziness in his head and poured a glass of water. He gulped down the potion and washed it down with a big swig of water. It was by no means a nice tasting potion, in fact it tasted rather foul. He climbed back into bed, intending to stay there until the rest of his dormitory was awake. It was only half past five so it would be good few hours before any of them rose. He looked across the dormitory and saw them all sleeping peacefully. He would have given anything to be in their shoes. Instead, he'd tossed and turned all night, in his dreams he'd already transformed into his wolf form and Snape had been there, his sallow hook nosed face looming over him, sneering.

He rolled over, mopping the sweat from his forehead. At least his friends would be with him tonight. Given the tumultuous events of the last few weeks they hadn't really discussed their plans for what would be the first full moon of term, but he knew they would be there. Tensions were running high at the moment; Sirius was still refusing to speak about what happened with his parents, and Peter had let James down miserably in that very public duel against Snape. Peter had been very quiet since then, spending even more time away from the group. But he was sure they would all rally together tonight. They looked forward to it with an almost morbid fascination. He couldn't blame them he supposed, he might have been the same if he didn't transform into a deadly mindless wolf every month.

He glanced at the clock, which now read half past seven. It was probably late enough to wake the others up now. He didn't want to be selfish but he needed the distraction that they would bring. He couldn't be alone with his thoughts much longer.

He got up and prodded Sirius in the bed next to him. It made logical sense to start with the one who would take the longest to wake up.

"Padfoot," he said loudly, giving him an even harder shove. "Wake up."

Sirius just groaned and rolled over, his dark hair obscuring his face. Remus decided to cut his losses and move onto James, who was generally easier to rouse at this time in the morning. However when he turned round to face James in the bed next to Sirius, he saw James was already awake, sitting upright and rubbing his eyes.

"Morning Moony," James yawned, stretching his arms up. "How you feeling this morning?"

Remus didn't answer but James seemed to understand. He watched as James clambered out of bed and gave Sirius an almighty shove which Remus never would have dared to do. Sirius could be unpredictable when he was half asleep and was highly likely to sock you one if you attempted that before the hour of ten. However it seemed Sirius was in an uncharacteristically placid mood this morning, for he simply groaned and propped himself up on his elbows.

"Have I overslept or something?" he asked groggily, his handsome features looking distinctly unimpressed.

"Nah, Moony just wanted some company," James replied, as Peter appeared next to them clad in his dressing gown and slippers.

"Right," was all that Sirius said as he reached for his wand under his pillow. "Consider me awake. No need for any more assaults this morning."

Remus smiled. "I'll bear it in mind Padfoot."

"Actually, I'm amending that statement. Feel free if you're female," Sirius said as Remus rolled his eyes. He didn't really disapprove, but he couldn't break habit so easily. He was so used to disapproving when it came to anything to do with Sirius and the fairer sex that he struggled to do anything but roll his eyes nowadays.

The four of them got dressed and before long they were on their way down to breakfast. It was just after eight, probably the earliest all four of them had been up all term. But none of them minded, it was an unspoken rule that they got up early on the morning of a full moon, and it was something Remus was immensely glad for.

They all took a seat in silence, Peter already digging into a large helping of toast, omelette and a full English breakfast complete with all the trimmings. It was no wonder he was slightly on the large side as he watched him scoff down large mouthfuls of waffle. But he supposed no-one was without fault, and they all had their vices. In fact James and Sirius had more than one apiece, and he could hardly speak for himself. He had the worst fault of them all, and sadly it wasn't anything he could change. He'd long accepted that he'd change into a werewolf every full moon until he died, but it didn't make him feel any better about it. The shame and fear still gripped him every month without fail. And to think that Snape too might know.

Remus grabbed a discarded copy of the Prophet and began to flick through it aimlessly. There wasn't much of interest; terrible new quarterly crime figures had been released by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the Minister of Magic was coming under criticism for taking a holiday to the Maldives during these troubled times, and some house elf rights activists had been arrested for putting the Statute of Secrecy at risk by picketing outside the muggle entrance to St Mungo's. Remus didn't stop to read any of this news, he wasn't in the mood for depressing himself further by reading about how many more Death Eater incidents there had been compared to this time last year. He flicked forward to the announcements section, hoping at least to read some vaguely positive news about people getting married or announcing births of babies.

He was met by a picture of a stunningly beautiful woman, who he presumed was a newly married bride. She had dark hair that fell in wild curls down to her waist, and was clad in an elaborate white gown, complete with lace, embellished pearls and a diamond and emerald encrusted broach. Remus sighed, she must be a pure-blood bride to be dressed so lavishly, but he couldn't deny that she was stunningly beautiful. However it seemed money didn't buy happiness, for if anything the bride looked bored, a haughty expression gracing her fine features as she stood at the altar. It was then that it occurred to him that this lady looked terribly familiar, her stony grey eyes reminding him ever so much of someone else he knew.

He glanced sideways and found himself staring into the exact same grey eyes. Sirius was looking at him with a scowl on his face looking distinctly unimpressed.

"Turn that over will you," he snapped at him.

"Why?" Remus asked curiously. "I was looking for some positive news. Weddings are much better to read about that murders."

Sirius laughed ruefully at this, his bark like laugh tinged with bitterness.

"Oh the irony," he said through gritted death. "I'm pretty sure more than few people have met their maker at the hands of those newlyweds."

Confused, Remus went back to the picture and this time read the accompanying text:

 _Bellatrix nee Black and Rodolphus Lestrange marry in the pure-blood ceremony of the year. Guests included the Malfoy, Rosier, Nott, Crabbe, Greengrass, Parkinson and the Goyle families._

Remus now got what Sirius meant. With a guest list like that he wasn't surprised that the couple moved in Death Eater circles. Not even the maiden name of the bride had surprised him. Given how much she looked like Sirius he had been sure they had to be related before he'd even seen her name had been Black.

"Is she a relative of yours?" he asked curiously.

"The bitch is my first cousin on mother's side. And also related in some complicated way to my father as well, with him and my mother being second cousins and all," Sirius said in almost a blasé tone as if this information wasn't even remotely out of the ordinary. "But can we change the subject?"

Sirius didn't seem to be in the mood to discuss his family, so Remus dropped the subject. However he did find it fascinating, in a sort of twisted way. There was definitely something odd and curiously archaic about marrying your cousins as a common practice. However thankfully, it was no longer practiced by the majority of wizarding families and was now confined to the upper echelons of pure-blood wizarding society.

James nudged him gently. "I'd drop it, his family isn't his favourite topic right now."

Remus nodded, and pushed the paper away into the middle of the table.

"Oh wow," Peter said suddenly. "That is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen!"

Remus bit down on his tongue as he felt James give Peter an almighty kick under the table. However if Sirius had heard he didn't give any indication. He seemed far away, his eyes unfocused with a brooding look on his face. Remus was relieved, he was sure he wouldn't have appreciated Peter's comment, no matter how he had intended it.

The post arrived, and Remus distracted himself for a moment by watching the graceful birds swoop around the hall. They really were beautiful creatures he thought as a particularly fine horned owl came flying towards them. He was expecting a new book he'd ordered from Flourish and Blott's nearing a week ago, so hopefully it was for him. Although it looked far too fine an owl to have come from a shop. Their owls would travel long distances and with large volumes of parcels; this was surely too nice a specimen to be used for such commercial purposes. However the horned owl had fluttered down to them, and was now perched on the edge of the table, flapping its beautiful mottled wings as it came to a standstill. Remus wasn't the only one who was admiring it either; a young bespectacled girl with a long chunky red scarf was gazing at it appreciatively from the Hufflepuff table.

On closer inspection Remus saw there was no package attached to its leg. Instead there was a bright led letter, and Remus knew immediately what it was. Who it was for though he had no idea. James' mother had occasionally sent him a howler over the years when he'd put his toe marginally too far over the line (and been caught) but as far as he could remember no one else had ever received one. Sirius' parents had never seemed to care about his misdemeanors. Remus had got the impression they'd long given up on him after he'd been sorted into Gryffindor.

James looked at Remus, an almost fearful expression on his face.

"What have you done now?" Remus asked, genuinely surprised as he couldn't actually recall anything _terrible_ that they had done since the start of term. Certainly nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. Nothing that would have got home at least.

"I don't think it's for me," James replied cautiously, his eyes surveying the handsome owl in front of them. "That's not Snitch."

James shoved Sirius who was still a world away. "Erm Padfoot, you don't happen to know this owl do you?"

Sirius turned to look at it, recognition immediately dawning on his face.

"Fuck," he sighed, taking the now singeing letter off the owl's leg. "It's my mother's fucking owl, Antoinette."

Remus watched him as he fumbled with the letter, and couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He didn't know what the contents would contain but he knew it wouldn't be good news.

"You'd better open it Padfoot," James said, giving Sirius a pat on the back. "They just get louder if you try to ignore them. I made that mistake in first year. You know when we got caught by Filch trying to give Mrs Norris a bath in Moaning Myrtle's toilet?"

Remus remembered this incident with a nostalgic smile. In fact it had been the first weeks' worth of detention they had all received in their illustrious career. Filch had not been happy and neither had McGonagall.

He turned his attention back to Sirius who was still staring at the letter with a resigned look on his face.

"Well here goes nothing," Sirius said, as he opened the now smoking letter.

Peter had recoiled in horror and was now watching the scene through his fingers, and Remus also felt rather apprehensive. Howler's were painfully loud and always got a lot of attention and he wasn't in the mood for either of those. He rubbed his still throbbing temples and braced himself for the howler.

A shrill shrieking omitted from the Howler, which he presumed belonged to Sirius' mother:

" _You are no son of mine! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers! When I think what could have been yours! Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness is what you are. T_ _raître à son sang!_ _"_

The red letter then burst into flames, shreds of red paper littering the table. Silence had descended across the hall, with the whole room staring at Sirius with avid interest. The Slytherins were jeering as would be expected, and Remus could see Snape's lips curled into a sneer across the table, his eyes meeting Remus' for just a second too long. Remus swallowed and looked towards the other tables. The other houses just seemed amused, if a little baffled. Remus couldn't blame them, he had no idea what the howler had been referencing. As far as he knew, Sirius' mother had already disowned and disinherited him before he'd even got back to school. So why she'd sent a follow up now was anyone's guess.

Remus looked over at Sirius, who was prodding the charred remains of the letter with his wand. Remus couldn't pinpoint the look on his face, it was a mixture of maybe anger mingled in with his usual haughty boredom.

"What was that about?" Peter spoke up quietly, his fork suspended in mid-air.

"Nothing," Sirius said dismissively as he vanished the remains of the letter with a flick of his wand.

James however didn't seem satisfied with this answer.

"Look Sirius. _Please,_ will you talk to us about what happened mate?" he said almost imploringly, looking directly at Sirius.

"We have been through this," Sirius snapped back, the anger rising in his voice. "I don't want to talk about it."

"But I still don't understand why? _"_

"I. Don't. Want. To. Talk. About. It," Sirius repeated, in between deep breaths. It couldn't be clearer that he was at the end at his tether, and Remus desperately hoped that James had also realised this.

"But Sirius," James started and Remus was surprised by the use of his actual name. "You're obviously _not_ okay."

This had been the wrong thing to say. Sirius wasn't one for speaking about his feelings, and he especially didn't like it when anyone tried to convince him otherwise.

"For fuck's sake James," Sirius said loudly, and a sudden silence descended on the hall. "Can you just fuck off?"

And with that, he slammed his plate down on the table and stormed off. James was left staring after him as the rest of the hall watched on.

Remus put his head in his hands. This hadn't been what he needed on the morning of the full moon. He could only hope that they all would have calmed down by this evening. Disagreements between Sirius and James never came to much and they normally worked it out. And they'd never let anything get between them and a good escapade at the full moon. No, Sirius would be fine, he just needed some time and space.

"Potter?"

Remus looked up and saw Professor McGonagall looming over them.

"What?" James said abruptly, without looking at her. His hazel eyes were still on the door as if Sirius was going to reappear at any minute.

"What was that about?" she asked with a stern look on her face.

"Oh well, erm, Sirius got a howler from his mother," James replied, finally turning to face her.

"Funnily enough Mr Potter I was aware of that," she said. "I meant your exchange."

"Why? Have we broken any rules?" James asked quickly, eyeing her suspiciously.

"No, I merely wanted to check that everything was in order Potter."

James rolled his eyes. Teachers trying to interfere with things like this always annoyed him. James hated nothing more than people sticking their nose in things which weren't any of their business.

"Nothing to see here," James said, not meeting her eye.

"Good," McGonagall said curtly as she began to walk away.

However she seemed to change her mind, for she paused and turned around to face them again.

"And if I may, a word of advice Mr Potter. I would drop it."

And with a swish of her robes and a clack of her heels McGonagall was gone.

"Right," said James, who looked furious now. "Right…'

Remus didn't say anything, leaving James to his thoughts. It wasn't common that they received life advice from McGonagall, although he had to admit that maybe she did have a point.

* * *

It was several hours later when Remus was escorted down to the shrieking shack. He tried not to think of what lay ahead as he followed Madame Pomfrey across the damp grass towards the Whomping Willow. It had been a terrible end to a terrible week, and it wasn't about to get any better. Between the duel with Snape and his less than subtle curse and Sirius and James' argument at breakfast he was ready for this week to be over. But first he had to endure the full moon.

At least James and Peter were waiting by the greenhouse, ready to join him once he had transformed. But no-one had seen Sirius all day. They didn't know where he had gone; he'd missed every class he was due to be in and hadn't shown up for lunch or dinner. What was even weirder was that none of the teachers had batted an eyelid. Remus had a sneaking suspicion that McGonagall must have said something in the staff room, for it was unlike teachers not to comment on anyone being absent, especially when Sirius was so often was absent with a myriad of excuses, none of them ever remotely convincing, or even plausible.

The Whomping Willow was closer now and Remus felt the breath catch in his throat as they drew even closer still. Madame Pomfrey hit the knot in the trunk with a well-aimed guided stick and the branches froze, allowing them passage into the tunnel within.

Remus closed his eyes as they journeyed to the shrieking shack, trying to ignore the involuntarily shaking that was beginning to take over his body. It couldn't be long now, there was less than half an hour until sunset and he was feeling the worse for it. Pomfrey opened the door to what would be his sanctuary for the night, and led him inside. Remus took a seat on the bed, trying not to focus on the scratches and bite marks that pock-marked the room.

Pomfrey said her goodbyes, and disappeared out of the door, locking it magically behind her. He was alone now with nothing but his thoughts for company. He stretched out across the bed, burying his face in the pillow. The wait was the worst. Unable to see the sky, and with no other indication of the passing time, he could do nothing but wait.

He tried to think about something else, anything else to take the impending transformation off his mind. He was sure that his Sirius would come tonight, he'd never let him down yet. All of his friends would always be there for him. Despite their many faults Remus couldn't ask for a more loyal set of friends. When he'd first arrived at Hogwarts, he had assumed that he would never have friends, being the werewolf that he was. He hadn't really believed it either when he'd fallen in with James, Sirius and Peter. And even then, he hadn't confided in them as to what he really was. But the lies had worn thin and it hadn't taken them long to work out the truth.

Remus took a deep breath. It was immanent now; he could feel it in his bones. Sure enough, he began to feel the familiar jolts of pain tearing through his body. He tried to breathe through the pain, but there was nothing that could help him now. The pain was unbearable as his clothes began to rip at the seams; muscle and fur replacing flesh and claws pushing through his fingernails. He was screaming now, and it wouldn't be long before he lost consciousness. Every time he transformed he was convinced for a fleeting moment that he'd retain his mind, his sanity. But it never lasted, and before long he'd become a ruthless savage killer. Sure enough, the world in front of him began to fade, and he could only see black and only feel pain. His eyes clenched shut Remus cried out again, but no words came out. Instead, he was howling, a sharp high pitched howl that pierced the silence.

Remus growled and opened his eyes. He could smell blood and he knew it was over.

* * *

Remus groaned as his eyes adjusted to the bright light. He was lying in the hospital wing, staring up at Madame Pomfrey as she held a noxious smelling potion to his lips. He drunk it as instructed, gagging as the fumes choked him and the bitter liquid stung his raw throat.

"Your transformations are getting better," Pomfrey commented as Remus forced the rest of the potion down. Thinking back to his transformations before his friends had become animagi, he had to agree. They were still awful but they were at least bearable, not least because their presence dissuaded him from tearing and biting at his own flesh.

He looked down at his body and was pleased to see there were minimal bandages. As usual there were several bandages around his ankles and his wrists, these injuries were normally inflicted by Sirius who had a lethal set of teeth in dog form. He couldn't blame him though, he knew they had to control him when they set him loose in the forest, and unfortunately pain was the best way of doing it. If things really got bad, then James was normally able to inflict enough damage with his antlers to stop him in his tracks, but generally it was left to Sirius to do the herding. He really ought to have been a sheep dog he thought darkly looking at the teeth marks that now covered his right hand. On the plus side at least this meant that James and Sirius must have made up.

"Has anyone come to see me?" Remus asked, looking around the empty room.

"Yes, the boys came to see you but you were asleep at the time," Pomfrey replied. "They've gone to Herbology I believe but they said they would be back at lunchtime."

Remus smiled. He loved how Pomfrey referred to his friends as 'the boys', so used was she to them appearing like clockwork the morning after his transformations. She'd never asked him, but he presumed she must have figured out that they knew he didn't go to visit his sick mother every month. Remus closed his eyes, the potion Madame Pomfrey had given him seemed to be taking effect for his eyelids suddenly felt heavy, and the aching in his body had eased slightly. He let sleep take him, after all he could only feel better when he woke up. And if luck had it, he would awake to his friends sitting by the side of his bed like they always did.

* * *

A/N I promise the next chapter will be out next week but reviews definitely give me motivation to write faster!


	14. Synonyms

A/N: Regular updates are resuming! Thanks for the new followers and the reviews from the last chapter- they are always so much appreciated.

Summary: Remus is recovering from the full moon and James and Sirius have made up following their argument. The Marauders duelled Snape and his Slytherin friends resulting in Remus being cursed by Snape with a curse that covered his face with fur. Peter is trying but struggling to be more like James and Sirius and backed out of the duel with Snape. Sirius is still refusing to talk about what happened with his parents and his casually seeing Emmeline. There is tension between Emmeline and Marlene over her previous relationship with Sirius, and Mary is causing conflict within the Gryffindor girls with her gossiping. Lily still has the Marauders map after stealing it from James and thinks that Sirius is in love with her after his failed attempt to retrieve it from her dorm. All of the sixth years have been given Transfiguration projects and Lily has been paired with Snape.

* * *

 _Synonyms_

 _Sirius_

* * *

"We still don't have the map. I can't believe you didn't manage to get the map," James repeated, pacing up and down the dormitory. "Getting down to the shack without it was a nightmare. We almost ran into Filch twice."

"Like I said at the time," Sirius sighed. This was at least the third time he'd asked. "I tried but Evan's interrupted."

"Yes, yes. I got that part. But you didn't get the map."

"No, I didn't get the fucking map."

"Calm down," Remus said, from his bed. He was still bearing the scars from their recent escapades at the full moon. "This isn't the most productive conversation."

He could say that again. James had not taken the news of his failure well. In fact he'd taken it positively terribly. Probably because he felt guilty. It was James' fault that they'd lost the map to Evans, and two weeks later and they were no closer to finding it again.

"Fine," James replied, taking a seat by the window. They were silent for a while as James stared out the window. Ravenclaw were holding their quidditch try outs this evening, a whole week earlier than Gryffindor. It had been an interesting move by Ravenclaw's captain and it had successfully put the other teams on edge. An extra week of training could be invaluable he supposed.

"It's a stupid idea," James said suddenly, his eyes following the tiny dots that were zooming around the quidditch hoops.

"What is?" Remus asked.

"Holding trials this early," James replied. "They've got a terrible turn out."

"Can you see from here?" Remus asked, squinting out the window.

"Nah, but they've just finished chaser and beater trials within about ten minutes."

"Could have been a clear cut decision?"

"Maybe…." James trailed off. "Or more likely not enough people turned up. It's too close to the start of term. Everyone's got too much on and people will have felt pressured into trying out."

"What do you mean?" Remus asked.

"People need more time to think it over. To work up the courage to try out."

"I didn't know you had any appreciation for nerves?" Remus said in an amused tone, a smile playing on his lips.

"I don't. But even I can't deny they don't exist."

Sirius watched this exchange in silence. He hadn't even given much thought as to whether or not he'd try out for the team again. He'd played since second year alongside James, but he'd never possessed either the passion or talent that James had for the sport. If he was honest he hadn't even considered the trials. When your best friend was the captain it seemed redundant.

"When will you hold the trials then?" Remus said, pulling Sirius out of his thoughts. Peter also seemed to have been lost in thoughts, his eyes unfocused and distant.

"The date is already set. Although I'm thinking of changing it as McGonagall has already been giving out detentions for that evening…"

Silence again descended on the room. It had been a very different atmosphere this year Sirius mused. Life suddenly seemed much more serious, more complicated. He'd got off to a poor start with his unceremonious exit from his parents, but it hadn't got much better with his argument with James, Snape cursing Remus and them losing the map to Evans. There was a melancholic mood in the air, and a darkness that hung over the school that couldn't be lifted. They'd occupied themselves with their usual amusements; but there was a bitter-sweetness that hadn't been there before. This was their penultimate year at Hogwarts. Next year they would leave and have to make their separate ways in a constantly changing and increasingly dangerous world.

"What you thinking about?" Remus said quietly, sitting down next to him.

"Nothing much. Life I guess."

Remus seemed to understand for he didn't push it. They'd all been like that with him since the howler that had arrived from his mother. He still didn't want to talk about it, but he knew that they couldn't and wouldn't accept this. He knew perfectly well that they talked behind his back. It didn't really bother him. Deep down he knew he would have been the same if it had been James.

"So what are we going to do about the map?" James broke the silence.

"Dunno..." Sirius said, his thoughts still elsewhere.

"Well that's helpful Padfoot," James jibed at him, throwing a scrunched up piece of parchment at him. Sirius had to smile. James always had a way of cheering him up.

"How about we try a new tactic?" Remus asked.

"Like what?"

"The most obvious one."

"Go on," James replied, still staring out the window as the seeker trails commenced on the pitch below.

"Asking her for it." This was a simple statement, and Remus had said it as if it was a simple solution, an obvious one even. Sirius had to laugh. There was a good reason they hadn't gone down this route.

"Are you sure that's a good idea…..?" Peter asked, his voice unsure as he looked intently from Remus to James and back again.

"Well, we could try being a bit nicer to her as a start. Then we can evaluate," Remus answered steadily.

Sirius supposed there was some logic in this statement, but this was Evans they were talking about. Any other girl, he'd have been completely behind this tactic, but Evans was one of a kind. She was immune to false friendship, flattery and seduction alike.

James' ears had pricked up though and there was a glimmer behind his hazel eyes that Sirius hadn't seen for a while.

"Yes…." James said to himself, getting up from his seat by the window. "We can do that. Kill two birds with one stone."

"What other bird would that be?" Remus asked warily.

"Me and Evans," James stated as if it had been explicit. "I be nice to Evans. She decides she actually likes me, goes out with me, and gives me back the map."

"I think maybe that's a tad ambitious Prongs," Remus said, his voice measured. "How about we start off with the _liking_ bit first, and then we can think about the _going out_ bit later."

"I think _tolerate_ would be more achievable than _like_ but whatever," Sirius chipped in.

"Whatever, whatever. Don't need to get caught up on the technicalities do we," James said as he resumed his pacing off the room.

"So you'll take this on Prongs?" Remus asked, still sounding a bit doubtful. It was his own suggestion, but Sirius supposed he hadn't counted on James' interpretation. Remus hadn't meant 'be nice to Lily' as an excuse for James' to continue his endless pursuit of her romantic affections.

"Yeah sure, who better?"

No-one answered this.

"However," James continued, not seeming to care. "I think we should give the whole 'seduce Emmeline to get information plan' another shot. I mean, he didn't even get to thoroughly search the dormitory."

"I think I've had enough of Evans catching me in awkward situations for one lifetime…." Sirius replied, hoping he sounded casual. He hadn't told James exactly what had happened between him and Lily and he had no urgent desire to do so. Or to repeat such an exchange later tonight. He'd had enough of girls for a while, and that wasn't something he said often.

"Well, at least get some information out of her. She might know something about the map," James said, his eyes still bright. They had the look that they so often had when the subject turned to Evans. Sirius hated many things about his best friend's obsession with that girl, but he couldn't deny his fervour.

"Sure, whatever. I suppose I could go and see her if it pleases you." James gave him a shove at this comment, but it hadn't been hard.

He hadn't planned to go and see Emmeline tonight, but he supposed it might do him good. This whole drama had been somewhat stressful, and maybe a good fuck would be all he needed to rid his mind of that rather awkward exchange with Evans.

"Well I'm off for a shower," James said rather suddenly, grabbing his towel and striding out of the room. Sirius rolled his eyes, subtlety had never been Prongs' strong point. He shared a knowing look with Remus who was holding back laughter.

"What are you two laughing at?" Peter asked indignantly, looking from Remus to Sirius in turn.

"The less than subtle timing of James' shower," Remus chuckled.

"What do you mean?" Peter asked. God, that boy could be naïve sometimes Sirius thought. He got the fact the he hadn't fucked a girl yet but he would have thought jacking off would have been within Peter's comprehension.

"Do you want a description or will a hand movement do?" Sirius replied sarcastically. Recognition dawned on Peter's face and he let out a nervous laugh.

"Oh, I see..." he replied.

"Well hopefully you don't see Peter," Remus said, still laughing. "No-one should have to see that."

Sirius had to say, as far as friendship groups went they had always been fairly discreet about such things. He'd never once woken up in the middle of the night to one of his roommates going at it violently under the covers. At least not to his memory. But then again, he was a deep sleeper.

"Well, on that subject, I have a girl to fuck," Sirius said, ignoring Remus rolling his eyes.

"Sorry, I have a girl to screw?" Sirius amended.

"Not better."

"Sleep with?"

"Marginally better but still not great."

"Bang?"

"Worse."

"Engage in coitus with?"

"The least romantic of the lot."

"Make love to?"

"A lie."

"Well I'm out of synonyms for verbs meaning 'to have sex', so I'll be off then," Sirius said as he strolled out of the dormitory. Remus was smiling now, so he'd at least achieved something with that exchange. Although he thought it unfair that Remus had dismissed all of his suggestions. Some had been fair. But despite being one of his best friends, Remus so often thought the worst of him. He couldn't blame him he supposed with all the terrible things him and James had done so far during their tenure at Hogwarts, but a lot of it was unwarranted criticism. At least he thought so. His reaction in particular to the 'make love' suggestion had been low. Although he supposed it was true. He didn't love Emmeline.

* * *

Making his way down the stairs, he scouted the common room for Emmeline. His eyes spotted Mary McDonald in the corner, speaking animatedly to Marlene Mckinnon who couldn't have looked less interested if she'd tried. He walked over, they'd know where Emmeline was.

"So, Tom was thinking about introducing me to his parents at Christmas," Mary was saying quickly, a giant smile plastered on her face. "Make sure you mention it to him when you prepare your Transfiguration presentation."

"That's nice," Marlene replied vaguely, stifling a yawn rather unsuccessfully and obviously having not heard Mary's instructions to her.

"No, you don't understand. I'd get to see Hubert…. You know his older brother?"

"His name is Hubert?" Marlene scoffed, mirroring Sirius' thoughts.

"And what?" Mary huffed.

"You can't go out with someone called Hubert," Marlene snorted. "I mean imagine the sex. 'Do me _Hubert_ '. Harder _Hubert_. It just doesn't work."

"Well funnily enough I'm not so shallow as to judge on such things."

"But shallow enough to lead someone on to get a leg over their brother?" Sirius interrupted, thinking he had got the gist of this exchange enough to contribute. Mary flushed a deep scarlet and turned to Marlene as if to seek back-up. She didn't get any though. Marlene just smiled at Sirius and met his eye. He'd always liked Marlene. In fact, in some ways she was more like a bloke than a girl; they were often on the same wave length.

"You're one to speak," Mary hissed back, giving him a wounded look. He knew there was a reason

why he'd never slept with Mary. Everything about this girl screamed high maintenance.

"Whatever McDonald. Have either of you seen Emmeline?"

"Yeah, she's over there in the corner playing gobstones with Hestia and Alice," Marlene replied, raising her eyebrows knowingly at him.

"Cheers ladies." He turned around, and now saw that she was sitting exactly where Marlene had described, sitting in the corner playing gobstones with Hestia. She had a look of intent concentration on her face, and her dark brown hair was pulled back into a messy plait down her back. She wasn't the prettiest girl he'd been involved with, but she was certainly attractive, with pretty delicate features and a very petite figure. She wasn't classically beautiful like Evans was with her porcelain skin and striking red hair, or pretty like Marlene was, blond and curvy; but he'd always had a preference for brunettes.

"Hey," he said simply, sitting down on the sofa next to her. She looked a bit startled, but shuffled up nonetheless to make room for him. Placing his hand on the small of her back, he sat quietly next to her as she finished her gobstones match with Hestia. Neither of them had commented on his sudden arrival, although Hestia had a small smirk on her face, as if she wanted to say something. He had a lot of time for Hestia; she didn't take life too seriously.

The game finished with Hestia winning 6 games out of ten to four, she'd always been good at this game. In fact James refused to play her as she always infallibly beat him. And Prongs was not a good loser.

"Well," Hestia said yawning. "I think it's time for bed. I'm still cursing the person who timetabled Transfiguration at 9am on a Monday."

Emmeline laughed. "I imagine it was McGonagall herself."

"All the worse."

"Well, goodnight Hestia. I'll catch you up."

Hestia swept her jet black fringe out of her eyes, and jogged up the stairs, casting a glance back over her shoulder as she went.

"So, I heard you had a bit of an altercation with Evans last week?" Emmeline asked, a smile on her face. This was good Sirius thought. That probably meant that Evans's hadn't divulged the nature of this altercation.

"Hmmm," Sirius said non-committedly, not really in the mood to converse about goddamn Lily Evans. He put up with enough of it living with Prongs.

"What on earth were you looking for?"

"Well," Sirius said, deliberating whether or not to tell her the truth. Well, he supposed he could tell a version of the truth. "Lily took something from our dormitory by accident. We'd quite like it back."

"Oh, is this the piece of parchment that Potter keeps on banging on about less than subtly?"

"That would be it."

"It just looks like a ragged piece of parchment," Emmeline said. "What's so special about it?"

"Can't say I'm afraid. Do you think she'll give it back?"

It was Emmeline's turn to hesitate this time. She considered him for a moment before speaking.

"I think you know the answer to that already."

"Fuck it," Sirius sighed, although she was right. It had been a redundant question.

"How did you get into the dormitory anyway?" Emmeline pressed on. "It took me half an hour to persuade Mary that you weren't a eunuch."

"Well that's just peachy." Mary McDonald questioning the existence of his balls was the last thing he needed right now. That girl was unable to keep her overly large mouth shut for the least interesting gossip. He had no idea what Tom Barnes saw in her, McDonald was such a liability. But then again, he supposed the open mouth must could come in handy sometimes. As could her open legs.

"It's okay. Marlene backed me up." Her tone was neutral but Sirius could tell there was a hint of something beneath the surface. As far as he knew, Emmeline and Marlene were still very friendly, but he got the sense there were maybe a few unresolved tensions there, on Emmeline's part at least. Marlene never worried or got upset about anything. Especially men.

"Good," Sirius said simply, not inclined to give any hint he'd picked up on the underlying sentiment of her previous statement. He placed his arm around her waist instead, in what he hoped was a reassuring way.

"I'm not in the mood tonight," Emmeline said quietly, placing her hand over his.

"That's okay," Sirius replied, not actually bothered. He'd only come to see her on James' instructions, and he'd already got as much as she probably knew about the map out of her. But now he was here, he had rather fancied sex. It had been a while. "Just a cuddle then?" he suggested as a compromise.

Emmeline hummed in response, leaning into his arms and placing hers around his neck, one hand in his hair as usual. Her own hair was unravelling from its plait, strands of dark hair poking out all over the place.

The common room was starting to empty as students began to pack up their things and head to bed. He nodded at Marlene and Mary as they said their goodnights and turned in for the evening. He figured he ought to do the same. Hestia had been right; they did after all have McGonagall tomorrow morning at 9, and her lessons were hard enough to stay awake in as it was. But Emmeline was soft and warm next to him, and he was very much inclined to stay.

With Hestia now gone, he stretched out on the sofa, reclining against the soft red cushions. His hands around Emmeline's waist, he manoeuvred her gently so she was lying between his legs with her head on his chest. In the flickering light of the dying fire, Sirius watched as her chest slowly moved up and down, her eyes closed and her expression serene. She was quickly falling asleep; her breathing slowing and the grip on his hair going limp.

He didn't know how long he lay there like that with her. He wasn't asleep; but he wasn't fully conscious either, his thoughts becoming increasingly fuzzy. Emmeline was fast asleep by this point, her face buried in his shirt, and her hand still gripping his hair loosely. He sighed; this hadn't been what he'd had in mind when he'd suggested this relationship, for lack of a better word, to her. But he didn't have the heart to wake her, not when she seemed so comfortable and settled. He wasn't sure he wanted to either. She was soft and warm against him, and he couldn't deny that it felt nice in a reassuring kind of way. Sighing, he flicked his wand to summon one of the red and gold throws that was draped over the end of the sofa. Placing it over them both, he lay his head back down on the cushion and tightened his grip around Emmeline.

* * *

A/N Next chapter is Lily and is titled "Intervention"- will hopefully be posting it next week :)


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